


this is the golden age of something good and right and real

by Drhair76



Series: Golden Age [1]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Barbara "Barb" Holland Lives, Bisexual Lucas Sinclair, Brotherly Steve Harrington & Dustin Henderson, Carol is gay, F/F, F/M, Finally, Gen, Good Babysitter Steve Harrington, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Minor Jonathan Byers/Steve Harrington/Nancy Wheeler, Polyamory, Protective Billy Hargrove, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington Friendship, Romantic Friendship, Steve Harrington-centric, doesnt everyone?, robin gets a girlfriend, tommy definitely watches romcoms, why? bc i said so stfu, yes tommy and billy have crushes on steve
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2020-12-22 18:22:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 22,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21081023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drhair76/pseuds/Drhair76
Summary: So Steve was perfectly fine with looking like an idiot as he  threw the door open dramatically, with cheetos in his hair, Jonathan's sweatpants on and a huge bright grin on his face.He paused when he saw who was there."Tommy? Carol?"or, the universe where most things go right, some things go wrong and everyone gets a happy ending.





	1. good

**Author's Note:**

> me? back with over 16k words about blurred lines in platonic relationships and found family friendships? it's more likely than you'd think.

Steve ducked the Cheeto that was sailing through the air towards his face and quickly retaliated by tossing a Dorito back at Robin. 

It hit her on the nose and she made a sound that was half a huff and half a scoff. 

"Nancy," Robin grabbed Nancy, who was making her way to the living room, and pushed a handful of Cheetos into her palm. "Your boyfriend needs to go _down_." 

Nancy's eyes widened but she smiled deviously at Steve. Steve immediately grabbed Jonathan and pushed him in front, ducking behind him. 

While Robin's aim is- and most likely always will be- terrible, Steve has seen his girlfriend with a gun _and _when she's trying to toss Cheese Puffs into her brother's mouth. 

Steve was in trouble. 

"Jon, I love you. You know this right?" 

Jonathan chuckled, and because Steve's hands were still on him, he could feel the rise and fall of his shoulders as he laughed. 

"Baby, you're going to have to fend them off by yourself." He turned his head to peek back at Steve. "You started this." 

Steve gawked as Jonathan pulled away. He pressed a kiss to Steve's nose, who was still half crouched in his own kitchen. 

"Betrayal!" He squawked. "Betrayal of the highest form!" 

Jonathan paused before leaving the kitchen. He smiled, grabbed the bowl of Doritos and left. "I love you too!" He called over his shoulder. 

So, because Jonathan took Steve's only ammunition _and _his only chance at coverage, Steve had to endure being pelted with Cheetos without a single way to defend himself. Luckily, he could grab the Cheetos that landed on the floor and throw them back and he got Nancy and Robin in the face a couple times, but it was nothing compared to the number of them that were now residing in Steve's hair.

"Ha _ha." _Robin laughed dramatically. "This is the _last _time you challenge _me _Cheeto head!" 

Nancy threw another two and Steve ducked before they could land. "What are you _talking _about? You threw the first Cheeto!" Nancy threw one that hit Steve right in the forehead and he screwed his face up. "Besides, Nance is doing all the _work! _If anything, _she_ should be the one gloating and calling me Cheeto head." 

"Oh don't worry," Nancy smirked, cocking her arm back, "I will be, Cheeto head." 

Robin threw one and grinned triumphantly when it hit him in the chin. Her smile was so excited and proud that Steve decided not to tell her that he didn't move so she _could _hit him. 

The game probably would've gone on forever- or at least until Jonathan had finished setting up the movie- when the doorbell rang. 

Nancy and Robin immediately froze and Steve knew that, in the other room, Jonathan did too. Steve frowned. The only people who would ever come to his house at eight either had a key or were too young to drive so it was only a number of people it could've been. 

"I'll get it." Steve shrugged. If it was his parents- which it definitely wasn't because they had a key and he hadn't changed the locks ( _yet, _Nancy and Jonathanwere still trying to convince him to be petty) - then he'd be murdered because there was half a bag of orange cheetos all over his mother's precious kitchen and his dad would do it simply for the fact that Steve was enjoying himself. 

"I'll start cleaning." Robin said, immediately moving to grab the broom and dustpan and Nancy paused for a beat, looking Steve over before hurrying after her. 

Steve appreciated their urgency because while he didn't go into much detail about his parents, they all knew they were strict as two fucking army generals. 

But at this point, if it _was _his parents then he'd not only be shocked but he'd also be worried because there were three people in this house who had a bone to pick with them and not a single one of them was him. 

Which is probably why Jonathan curled a hand around his elbow before he went to answer the door. 

A quick, "I'm here if you need me." Before he slipped back into the kitchen. 

You couldn't _pay _Steve to wipe the blinding smile off his face after that. It made him giddy in his chest whenever Jonathan or Nancy went all protective. While Steve would be the one who's most likely to step between danger and them with a nail bat, it was nice to know that the feeling was mutual. 

He was happy and way more steady than he'd been in a long ass time and it was mainly due to the people in his life. 

So Steve was perfectly fine with looking like an idiot as he threw the door open dramatically, with cheetos in his hair, Jonathan's sweatpants on and a huge bright grin on his face. 

He paused when he saw who was there. 

"Tommy? Carol?" 

They looked terrible. Dark shadows under rimmed eyes, mussed hair, wrinkled clothes. They were holding each other's hand like they were a couple in a horror film about to be murdered. 

"Steve. Hey." Tommy started, his eyes widening like he didn't expect him to answer the door. Steve could feel his eyes raking over his appearance, a frown starting to curve on his lips. "You look-"

Steve's face hardened and he moved to slam the door in his face because he didn't have the time or space in his life for judgmental, rude, ex-friends. His time was money now and Steve was finally deciding to be stingy. 

But Tommy moved, stopping Steve before he could shut the door. Steve blinked and he heard shifting behind him, like Jonathan or Nancy or Robin were gearing up to charge in when Carol pushed in front of Tommy, who was watching Steve with a desperate and pleading expression. 

"Stevie! Please." Carol exclaimed, her voice wobbing. "We came to apologize!" 

"_Good." _Tommy stuttered. "I was going to say good. You look good." 

Steve reared back a little but didn't shut the door because _Tommy only stuttered when something was really wrong._ Carol must've taken Steve's stunned silence as a sign to keep talking because she kept talking. 

"Okay, okay hold on." She sniffled and scrubbed her eyes furiously and Steve had a weirdly strong urge to tell her not to do that. He remembered one time where she said- _Steve, you really shouldn't rub your face, you'll get pimples and then you'll get wrinkles._ He remembered feeling horrified and attempted not to touch his face for the next _month. _

"I wanted to say sorry. I was a bitch and an asshole and a terrible, _terrible_ friend. I shouldn't have said those things about Nancy-" There was more shifting behind Steve, "-and all those terrible things about Jonathan." 

She paused, her bottom lip quivering and when she tried to continue talking, her voice came out so quiet that Steve had to lean closer to hear. 

"My sister kept asking when you'd come back to watch her and I had to tell her that it was my fault-" 

"Our." Tommy cut in, eyes big and watery. He glanced at Steve quickly before turning his gaze back to the ground, his cheeks coloring. 

Carol sniffled and curled a hand around Tommy's wrist. "Yes. Our. She just- she misses you. _I _miss you." 

Steve inhaled because Carol's expression was deeper than the crocodile tears she'd cry whenever her father questioned about the missing Vodka they used to drink and it was more intense than the way she'd look whenever Carol and Tommy would 'take a break'. 

This was _real. _

Tommy took an audible breath, set his eyes on his shoes and started talking. "Steve, I know you have no reason to forgive us. I know that I was stupid, I know I was a bully and I was just an all around ass to you. I'm as dumb as a bag of rocks Stevie, and once you began going off with Nancy and Jonathan, I thought you- well, I thought you didn't _need _me around anymore." 

Steve opened his mouth to interrupt, because _no, _that's not what Steve felt _at all. _But Tommy barreled on, his hands curling into fists. 

"So I made 'friends' with Billy because I figured that getting a rise out if you was a million times better than just letting my best friend walk away but that didn't fucking work either. I'm just- I'm _sorry _Stevie." And now Tommy looked up his eyes glossy with tears and Steve itched to pull _both _of them into a hug. 

If Steve was being honest with himself, he missed them. He missed Tommy's easy sarcasm, Carol's random dance parties. Their constant bickering used to be a song on the soundtrack of his life but demogorgons and missing kids scratched that CD and left him with nothing. 

It was better now. 

Now, Steve had people. He had Robin's screeching laughter, he had Nancy's gentle nudges forward, he had Jonathan's steadying hands. He had Dustin's stupid nicknames, Max's teasing jokes, El's poignant smiles. He had Will's gentle hugs, Mike's easy insults, Lucas' excited chattering. 

It was better now because Steve had people who had him and he had himself. 

And finally, finally, _finally_, himself was someone he _liked. _

But sometimes, at random moments, he missed Tommy. 

Someone would walk into the Movie store and Steve'll want to turn to Tommy and ask _isn't that the one girl who came to your party and broke your coffee table? _Or he'd see a perfume while shopping for Nancy that he can remember Carol raving about- _Oh stevie, it actually smells like moondust! And it has shimmer in it! Tommy'll love it so much! _

And Steve knew that he didn't have to accept their apologies because what proof did he have that they'd change? That they wouldn't go back to the way they were? That _Steve _wouldn't go back to the way he was? 

But Steve saw the way Carol's forehead creased and the way Tommy bit down harshly on his lip and he decided to believe in them. 

He opened his arms, a hesitant smile on his face. Right now he looked nothing like King Steve, there was no charming grin, no smug look, no carefully crafted masks. It was just him being himself and either they took that or they left with nothing. 

Tommy inhaled, a stuttery thing that sounded painful, before he practically fell into Steve's arms. Carol's eyes brightened, a beautiful smile stretching across her cheeks. She immediately folded into place under Steve's other arm and pressed into Tommy's side. 

"I missed you guys too." Steve sighed. There was a pause, more shifting from behind Steve and some hissed whispers. "You guys do know that I'm not the only person you're gonna have to apologize to right?" 

They both nodded simultaneously without pulling away from the hug and Steve smiled. 

...

Steve sent them home with the promise to talk tomorrow because he could do that now. He didn't have to let them all the way in or even spend time with them. His reputation didn't hinge on the friends that he surrounded himself with anymore. 

He could choose when and where and who and how long based on whether he actually _wanted_ to hang out with them and that was way more freeing than what was maybe considered normal. 

Which was probably why, when he went shut the door and walked about into the kitchen, Robin was beaming at him proudly. Nancy looked a little miffed and Jonathan looked a little nervous but they were also smiling. 

"That was weird." Steve summed up. 

Nancy stepped closer and began pulling the cheetos out of Steve's hair. "Not _that_ weird. Stranger things have happened. Besides, it's about time they came to apologize to you." 

"Yeah, I remember that the three of you used to do almost everything together." Robin hummed. "You guys were really close." 

Steve nodded. "Yeah, Tommy was like a brother to me." Then he bumped Robin's side and smirked at her. "Don't worry Robs, you're still my best friend." 

Robin bumped him back and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever dingus. I love you too." 

Jonathan leaned forward on his elbows on the counter, propping his face up with his hands. "So what are you going to do?" 

Steve shrugged, curling an arm around Nancy's shoulders. "I don't know. I'll probably hear them out. Try to make it work? Because I do miss them but it can't be the way it used to be." 

Jonathan tilted his head, seemingly noticing something in Steve's face. He straightened and walked over to Steve and Nancy, pressing a kiss to his cheek and then hers. 

"Come on," He glanced over at Robin, who was watching the three of them with a soft look. "Tommy H and Carol can wait. I want to watch movies." 

Steve rolled his eyes but allowed Jonathan to pull Steve towards his living room, Nancy and Robin following close behind. 

...

Despite Steve appearing calm, his stomach was twisting itself up into knots and he couldn't stop the way his fingers drummed on the table. 

He tried to calm himself by reminding himself that he could always leave, he could always say no. There wasn't anything keeping him here except for the good of his own heart. 

Well, and the fact that he missed them. But they missed him too, so they had just as much to lose in this scenario as he did. 

The diner that they decided to meet at used to be Steve's favorite place in all of Hawkins. Way back before demogorgons and Russians and Demodogs. Back before there was Nancy, Steve and Jonathan, even back before there was _Nancy and Steve_, there was Steve in this diner with Tommy and Carol sitting across from him. 

They'd get an order of fries and three milkshakes, one chocolate, one strawberry and one vanilla. They'd share the milkshakes because none of them could ever decide which flavor they wanted more than the other and they'd split the fries. 

Steve liked to cover his fries in ketchup, Tommy would put a little hot sauce on them and Carol only liked a sprinkle of pepper so they would also get three separate plates. 

Steve ordered a large fry, wondering whether they would remember it. Eventually the bell on the door chimed, and over the booth opposite him, Steve could see Tommy's fluff of curls. 

"Stevie." Tommy greeted. He sounded relieved, like he was glad that Steve showed up.

Like he thought Steve wouldn't. 

Next to him, Carol swung their hands like she used to do when their were in middle school. They looked good. Much better than they did last night. They looked more well rested, less frazzled, more like the people Steve's known all his life. 

"Hey, Tommy. Carol." Steve nodded. 

They sat down across from him. Carol first, because she's always loved to be on in the inside, near the windows. They scooted until Tommy was directly in front of Steve. 

"I guess it's time for that talk now?" Tommy laughed. Steve tilted his head because it was light, flighty, a little nervous. 

"Yeah, I guess." Steve shrugged. It wasn't like he was looking forward to this either. "You two were assholes. But I was too. And I missed you guys. But things can't go back to the way it used to be." 

Tommy inhaled and Carol's eyes widened. 

"Things are different now." Steve admitted. "I'm- I've got- Nancy and Jonathan. We're dating." 

There was a small surprised paused before Carol exclaimed victoriously. "I knew it!" She turned to Tommy. "You owe me twenty dollars T." 

Tommy rolled his eyes. "Alright, alright. Yeah Care, you're gonna get your twenty dollars." His eyes cut back to Steve and to Steve's surprise his gaze stayed warm and fond. "I've seen you around town with them. You look at them like they hung the stars in the sky. It's sweet." 

Steve smiled. He felt relieved to be accepted even though he knew for a fact that Carol and Tina had a brief fling back in eight grade. Tommy was insufferable back then, going on and on about how he could totally act like a girl if that's what Carol wanted. 

"You're happy with them?" Carol asked and they both leaned in to hear his answer, like it was a serious thing for them to know. 

Steve hummed, thinking about the way that Nancy gingerly picked cheetos out of his hair yesterday. The way that Jonathan made sure that Steve ate breakfast, because he knew that Steve sometimes skipped. The way that Nancy leaned into them, a small smile on her face. The way that Jonathan would slot their hands together casually, like it wasn't a big deal. 

"Yeah, I am. I'm _beyond_ happy with them." 

"Well," Tommy drawled, his lips tugging up a little. "I guess I could apologize to Byers." 

Carol nodded, not bothering to hide her proud beam. "And I could say sorry to the princess." She shrugged a little. "She's not so bad." 

Steve knew that she was only saying that for his sake but he wasn't worry about it. He knew that she'd grow to love her just like Jonathan grew on him. 

Well. Hopefully not _exactly _like that. 

Their waitress came and set down the plate of large fries. Carol gasped happily, so there was no doubt that she remembered, but Tommy looked at the plate, his eyes distant. 

"Can I get you anything else?" The woman asked. 

Carol's eyes flickered from Steve to Tommy to the waitress nervously because if Steve remembered correctly- _you guys are the ones who have to do the ordering around here. All I want to do is eat the food. _

And just as Steve's heart began to drop, because_ Tommy didn't remember, _he blinked and looked up at Steve, a small smile growing steadily. 

"Yeah, Can we have three milkshakes? One strawberry, one Chocolate and one vanilla." 

...

"You know," Jonathan plopped down next to Steve on his couch. Steve almost instantly moved closer, breathing in his woodsy, smoke scent. "I didn't get any flowers." 

Nancy followed behind, a plate of cookies in her hand. "Me either. I thought there would be flowers." 

She sat on his other side, curling close. Steve grabbed a cookie and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. 

Jonathan rested his chin on Steve's shoulder, blinking at him with big eyes. "Whenever you apologize we always get flowers." He pouted. 

Steve snorted and pressed a kiss to Jonathan's head and then one to Nancy's, who tucked herself further into Steve's side. 

"Not everyone can be as good at saying sorry as me." 

Jonathan and Nancy chuckled and they were quiet for a moment, soaking in each other's presence. 

Steve sighed happily, the tension that had been stifling Steve all through Carol and Tommy's apology finally lifting. He practically sunk into the couch, Jonathan automatically snuffling closer, wrapping an arm low around his waist and Nancy pressed her nose against Steve's throat, throwing her arm up to Steve's other shoulder so her fingers grazed Jonathan's hair. 

"Did you guys accept their apology because of me?" He asked quietly, his eyes fluttering shut. 

The question was really more for Jonathan because Steve knew that Nancy would never _ever _accept the apology of someone she didn't want to deal with. Also, she couldn't have been anymore passive aggressive to Carol through the whole thing, which, by the way, did _not_ help Steve's nerves. 

Jonathan hummed. 

"A little bit." Jonathan's breath fanned across Steve's face and Nancy flicked at his hair a little. "They make you happy and all I want is for you to be happy. But I could also see that Tommy meant it." 

"People change." Nancy murmured quietly and Jonathan nodded, bumping his nose against her fingertips. 

"People change people." Steve offered. Nancy groaned and Jonathan pressed his face into Steve's shoulder, hiding his smile. 

"I'm never letting you watch Girl Meets World ever again." 

"It's a good show!"

...

"So, are you gonna tell me about these friends of yours before I meet them dingus?" 

Steve chuckled as he restocked the butterscotch ice cream. Personally, Steve couldn't stand the flavor, but Jonathan _and _Will loved it to pieces and apparently, so did half of Hawkins. 

Well, Jonathan loving it was a bit of a jump. When Steve first asked him what his favorite ice cream flavor was, he'd said vanilla and at Steve's deadpan look he said vanilla _bean_. So Steve decided they needed to have an ice cream taste test session so Jonathan could find a more exciting second favorite flavor. 

And he'd chosen Butterscotch. 

"What do you want to know?" 

Robin leaned against the counter and propped her chin up on her hand. "Hmm. Favorite colors?" 

"Green and pink." 

Or at least, the last time he asked Carol, her favorite color was pink. It liked to change a lot depending on her mood. Some days she was golden yellow, some days she was royal blue, some days she was ruby red. 

There was a straight _week _where she was rainbow and Steve suspected- because Tina was bubbler and hung out with them more- but he never asked. 

"Ah." Robin nodded. "Standard."

Steve narrowed his eyes playfully. "Your favorite color is blue." 

"And?"

"Robin, _everyone's_ favorite color is blue." 

Robin scoffed, looking half offended. "Everyone's favorite color is _not _blue. Besides, my favorite blue is indigo blue. If you can tell me five people you know that like indigo blue than you'll win this argument." 

Steve raised an eyebrow. "Okay one- Indigo blue isn't even blue it's a bluish purple-" 

"If you look it up on Google, it's listed as blue-" 

"-_And, _you've asked the wrong person to list five people because I remember almost everything about almost everyone." 

Robin looked unimpressed. "Almost?"

Steve tilted his head, squinting at Robin. "Yeah...what was your name again?" 

Robin snorted and smacked him in the arm. "Dumbass." 

Steve smirked and the bell on their door chimed. Tommy and Carol walked in hand in hand, oohing and ahhing at the place. Which was valid, because it was nice.

After Starcourt, after Scoops, after the Russians, Robin and Steve decided that they _had _to work together again. Steve's breath would hitch if he went too long without seeing Robin and from the way that Robin made sure to bump him or curl a hand into his - _like she was afraid he'd disappear in a second _\- she felt the same. 

While Steve was tired of the taste of ice cream, scooping it took practically zero effort and Robin loved stealing the peanut toppings at the end of the day so here they were. An ice cream parlor that paid them much better, didn't make them wear stupid sailor outfits and was full of pastel colors. 

It was pretty. 

El's words, not his. 

"Hey guys!" Steve said. 

They made their way to the counter, eyes wide as they took in all the flavors. Steve smiled as he watched them because he knew pretty soon Carol will ask for Strawberry Cheesecake and Tommy will ask for Rocky Road with peanuts on top. 

Sometimes it was nice to _know _things about people. Steve doesn't know what his mother's favorite color is off the top of his head and he _definitely _doesn't know his father's favorite ice cream flavor- or if he even _likes _to eat sugar. 

So having Tommy and Carol around, who he _knows _just as well as he knows Nancy or Jonathan or Robin_, _is comforting. 

"Hey Steve." Tommy's eyes cut from Steve to Robin and something dawned in his eyes. "I'm Tommy, this is Carol and you're probably Robin right?" 

Robin startled, looking at Steve like she didn't expect Tommy to know her name. "Um. Yeah. Robin Buckley." 

"Ah, so you're the girl who stole the best friend spot from me?" Robin was a little speechless because while the words were harsh and cutting, the tone was light, airy. 

He was kidding around with her. 

Steve smirked and bumped Robin reassuringly. "She sure is Tom. She's a million times better than you because she _lets _me listen to One Direction in her house." 

Tommy made a face but Carol beamed, looking at Robin with ernest eyes. "Thank you for taking care of Stevie. He's dumb sometimes but if you let him listen to pop and bake him cake every once in a while he'll behave." 

"You bake?" Robin asked, pleasantly surprised. 

"Oh, a little. Just brownies and cupcakes." Carol blushed. "Nothing special." 

"I'm sorry." Steve interrupted, an incredulous look on his face. "Are we just going to gloss over the fact that she just called me dumb?"

"Probably." Tommy shrugged. "As long as we get cupcakes out of it, I'm all for being dumb." 

"How about we focus on ice cream right now and cupcakes later?" Robin offered. "We've got fudge, vanilla bean, cookie dough, birthday cake, banana split-" 

"I think I'd like some strawberry shortcake." Carol said, looking down at the pink tub with wide eyes. 

Tommy eyed the fudge but ultimately pointed down at the rocky road. "I'll have a cup of Rocky with some peanuts on top." 

Steve couldn't hide his smile as he and Robin went to pull on gloves and grab cups. 

"What's that smile for?" Robin asked and Steve shrugged.

"Nothing. I just had a good feeling and it turned out that the feeling was right." 

...

Someone was banging on Steve's door. And it was _loud._

Steve used to be a heavy sleeper. Like, two nights ago when he was squished in between Jonathan and Nancy on Jonathan's tiny bed. With Jonathan's solid warmth in front of him and Nancy's hands curled into his shirt at his back, he fell asleep almost instantly. 

Apparently, he only slept good when he was bracketed in by his- 

Lovers? Yes but no. 

Mates? Ew. 

Partners? That sounds like they were about to commit a _crime_. 

The banging increased and Steve growled, grabbing the nail bat that was always by his bedside. He crept down the stairs, thinking that if there was a demogorgon issue interrupting his not-sleep, he'd probably lose his mind. 

He threw open the door angrily, fully prepared to face Hopper or Dustin or even Joyce with their latest monstrous catastrophe, but it wasn't any of them. 

It was Billy Hargrove holding an unconscious Max. 

"Harrington," Billy's voice was low, gruff, dripping with exhaustion. "I need your help." 

At any other time Steve would crow with excitement. Alpha male, Mr. don't touch my fucking car Billy Hargrove asking for _Steve's _help? But-

But Max looked _bad. _And Billy did too. And Steve wasn't a douche anymore. 

And Steve knew all about the things that go bump in the night.

He suspected with the way Max carried herself, how timid she was around Hopper, how she'd sometimes flinch when Dustin or Lucas moved to quick. He suspected it with the bruises Billy'd have at basketball practice, with the way he lashed out at someone before someone could lash out at him. 

"Shit." Steve cursed, quickly moving to let Billy in. "Come in, I've got a first aid kit." 

Billy hesitated for a second, mistrust and _fear _warring in his eyes and Steve griped the wood of his front door tight because he needed Billy to _trust him. _

If not for his sake, then for Max's. 

No matter what shit they had going on, this was so much bigger. 

There was a moment, when Billy shifted backwards and Steve almost reached out to _grab _him and pull him or Max in because he couldn't have Billy out sitting somewhere in his car trying to tend to Max, but then Max groaned in pain and Billy shook himself. He stepped over the threshold and Steve took a breath of relief. 

Billy didn't speak as Steve began flicking lights on and if he thought it was weird that Steve's parents weren't home then he didn't say anything. 

Steve motioned for Billy to lay her on his couch and ran off to grab his first aid kit. Steve's heart was racing like he'd just ran a marathon and his mind was sort of short circuiting, because _Billy Hargrove _was in his living room and _wasn't _trying to kill him? 

Steve wished for Jonathan's comforting smiles or Nancy's steady hands or Robin's warm contact. They'd know what to do- but at the same time Steve was sure Nancy and Robin would try to do something stupid and _fight _Billy and Jonathan would do something even more stupid and not _stop _them.

So right now, all Steve had was himself, a half stocked first aid kit and two Hargroves that need patching up. That would have to be enough. 

He hurried back, willing himself to calm down. He's done this a million times, for Dustin when he took a spill on his bike, for Erica when she scraped her knees on the pavement while roller skating, for himself whenever his father decided he's had enough. 

Billy's eyes flickered to him and he stepped away, letting Steve work. Steve felt a pang in his chest as he took in Max's features in the light. Her lip was split, there was a cut on her jawline, a bruise forming on her hairline. He wiped away the blood with warm water, applied some Neosporin and then placed a band-aid on her cut. 

Bright green because it was her favorite color. 

"You do this often?" Billy asked. Steve ran a hand through his hair and found himself responding because his tone wasn't harsh or sharp. 

"Uh, yeah?" 

"You don't sound to sure about that." 

Steve rolled his eyes, biting his tongue to keep from snapping at him. "_Yes_. Yes, I do."

Billy hummed like he was satisfied with that answer and Steve stood. "I'm going to get some pain medication for when she wakes up. Do you need something? Did- did he hurt you?"

Steve could see the bruise on Billy's cheek, bright against his pale skin. He would need ice, maybe some some heat, probably aloe vera. Who _knows_ what else was under that long sleeve shirt and dark jeans.

Billy's eyes widened before they narrowed. He stood angrily and advanced like he would hit Steve.

Steve braced himself but he just jammed a finger into Steve's chest. 

"I don't need anything from you Harrington. I don't want your pity help. You don't know what the fuck happened, so stop acting like it." 

Steve gaped for a second before knocking Billy's hand away. "You think-" Steve pointed down at Max, who was still sleeping on the couch. "I took care of her because I _pity _her? You think this has _anything _to do with you?" 

Billy blinked, obviously shocked at the passion and fire in Steve's voice. Steve's fists curled and he took another step forward. 

"Also- I don't know what the fuck happened? I have a good fucking guess." He snarled. Then he turned away from Billy, threw his arms out, gesturing around the living room. "You see this living room and you look at me and I _know_ what you're thinking. _Oh, rich little Steve Harrington, what's he got to whine about? Up in his fucking castle with his fancy toys. _Well, listen the fuck up Hargrove, I know _exactly _what you're going through." 

Billy's eyes widened and Steve figured it had more to do with the way his eyes were stinging and blurring than how he was jabbing a finger into Billy's chest. 

"News flash asshole," Steve growled. "My father fucking hates me. Likes to remind me by beating it into me. You think you're the only one around here with problems?" 

Steve turned away because fuck. _Fuck. Goddamnit. _He had _not _been planning to hash out his daddy issues with Billy fucking Hargrove. The only people who knew about his dad were Tommy and Robin. Tommy, because he needed some place to go one time and Robin because she was his _best _friend and traded secrets was what they _did. _

"Harrington-" Billy started and he sounded reluctant, awkward, nervous, _apologetic. _

But Steve didn't want apologies. He just wanted to know if Billy needed some goddamn _ice._

"Do you _need _something?" He asked, his tone sharp. He kept his back to Billy, tense beyond belief. 

It was quiet for a moment. 

"I'll take some ice." 

...

"Okay, but when he's sick- like _really _sick- what's his favorite meal?" 

"Chicken Noodle soup, _duh. _Because if Steve Harrington is anything- It's a cliché."

Steve opened his front door to see Tommy, Robin and Nancy already relaxing in his living room like they lived there. Tommy had taken one side of the couch, his feet up on his mother's coffee table- _Stevie, your mother is a bitch. I'm gonna put my feet wherever the hell I want. It's not she'll be here anyway- _Robin was on the other side of the couch, perched on the armrest like an _actual _bird and Nancy was on his father's armchair, bundled in the throw his parents had brought back from London. 

Steve paused in the doorway, briefly thinking about how good it was to see his friends here. The armchair, the coffee table, the throw- God, sometimes the _couch _seemed like dangerous objects to Steve. 

He's learned many _many _painful lessons about being places he wasn't supposed to, being seen _and_ heard when he wasn't supposed to, touching things that he wasn't supposed to. 

It was so harshly etched into his database that even when his parents hadn't been home for _weeks _he wouldn't set foot in the dining room. 

Still hasn't, if Steve thought about it. 

But his parents couldn't touch his friends and that alone made Steve feel warm. So, he walked in, shut the door behind him and threw out his arms. 

"Daddy's home!" 

Robin and Tommy looked at him in shock but Nancy didn't even look up from her phone. "Steve, we _all _know you're the mom friend." 

"Shit Nance," Tommy groaned. "That was one of the questions!" 

Robin rolled her eyes. "Dude, if you thought I didn't know that then you're _dumber _than a bag of rocks." 

Steve kiss her on the cheek and sat down on the rug and if Tommy noticed how he leaned so he didn't actually _touch _the armchair he didn't say anything about. 

"What's happening now?" Steve asked. "Also, where are Jonathan and Carol?"

"Jonathan had to go take his brother to a dentist appointment and Carol went to get her nails done." Tommy replied. "And _we _are playing a game." 

Steve raised an eyebrow. Robin smirked. "It's the Who Knows Dingus Better game. And I'm going to _win." _

A laugh startled out of Steve and he nodded. "Okay, alright cool. Then, I guess you wouldn't mind if _I _asked a few of these questions?" 

They all shook their heads and Steve nodded again. "Okay, we'll start small, What's my favorite movie genre?" 

"Action!" Tommy. 

"Horror!" Robin. 

"Thriller?" Nancy.

"You guys suck ass. It's romantic comedy!" Steve booed. "I would watch 10 Things I Hate About You for the rest of my life if I had to." 

Tommy blinked like he was seeing someone new and Robin laughed so hard that she threw her head back and almost fell off the couch. 

"God," Nancy smiled teasingly. "You're such a sap." 

"Only for you babe." Steve shot back immediately and Tommy raised his eyebrow. 

"And also for Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles." 

Now it was Steve's turn to raise an eyebrow at _him. _"Well, look who knows the actors. Tom, are you sure you aren't a secret romcom lover?" 

Tommy flushed red and this time Robin _did _fall off the couch. 

...

Steve was beginning to regret this. 

He drove the kids down to the arcade and the movies and the mall all the time so his car was normally filled with loud, obnoxious. annoying children, but at least he _liked _those children. Even when they were annoying and he couldn't stand them, they were _his_. 

Now, Tommy and Carol were in the backseat, while Robin road shotgun. They were talking back and forth, about who _knows _what and while Steve was grateful that his old friends and his new friend were getting along so well, he had a raging headache and didn't really want to deal with it right now. 

He kind of wanted to head to Nancy's, curl up in her bed and sleep for the next three years, but he was taking the adult children to meet the _actual _children so Steve was very much out of luck. 

"Stevie," Carol tapped once on his shoulder with a newly applied acrylic nail. She'd gotten them, eagerly shown them off to Nancy and Robin and now would not stop tapping on things around his house. It was somehow simultaneously comforting and obnoxious, but Steve guesses that's life. "Quiz me on the kids, I think I've got it down." 

Steve tilted his head as Robin and Tommy's exciting chatter slowed to a stop. He watched from the rearview mirror as Tommy leaned back, wrapped an arm around Carol's shoulders and caught his gaze. 

Alright. That's fucking weird. 

A perk about being popular, or at least _well known_ in a small town like Hawkins is that, you learn to remember as much as you could about as many people as possible. 

So Steve's head is full of absolutely useless information. That Becca Lippen is allergic to dogs, that Ryan Bentley likes Post Malone, that Clarissa Harding hates children. 

Steve is one hundred percent sure that when he gave the run down of the kids- which, by the way, there are _only six- _Carol and Tommy immediately committed it to memory. 

So their interest must be of their own volition. Or they want to show off? Or, and as Steve watched the way the couple looked at him this was becoming more and more likely, they wanted to _show _Steve that they were trying. 

Which actually made something warm bloom in Steve's chest. 

Maybe this wouldn't go too terribly. 

"Okay." Steve rerouted his eyes to the road, trying to think around the distant pounding in his skull. "Uh, Curly haired kid who wears a hat?" 

"Dustin!" They immediately chimed. 

"Skinny, sort of pale kid with a kinda terrible hair cut?" 

"Will!" 

"Red haired-" 

"Max!" 

Steve laughed. "Guys, I think you're good. They're not going to murder you if you get their names wrong."

Robin raised a discreet eyebrow. "Are you sure about that?" She whispered. 

"Here's to hoping." Steve sighed back. 

...

The first face he was met with when he knocked on the Byers front door was surprisingly not Joyce, it was El. 

She was looking up at Steve with wide and excited eyes but it only took a second for her to realize that there were new people with him. 

"Hi Steve." She said, trying to peek over his and Robin's shoulders at Tommy and Carol. "Who's that?" 

"Hey kiddo." He reached down to ruffle her hair, smiling when she leaned _into _the touch. "Don't worry, I'll introduce them."

El tilted her head slightly, still trying to peer over his shoulder but ultimately deciding to trust him. She opened the door wider, letting them walk into the house. 

And _shit _it was _loud. _

He could hear Jonathan's voice floating in from the back bedrooms, asking if Steve had just walked in, Mike, Lucas and Max were all eagerly playing the new Play Station that Steve had gotten Will for Christmas and it seemed like Dustin, Will and El, who'd hurried back over after looking over Steve's friends, were cheering them on loudly. 

His head was _pounding. _

He briefly thought about giving quick introductions and then getting the hell out of there but then Robin hurried over to Max's side to help El in cheering her on and Joyce poked her head out of the kitchen to greet him and Steve could hear Jonathan making his way into the room- 

So he sighed, smiled and pulled Tommy and Carol further into the noise. 

"Steve!" Dustin greeted, "Come here and watch Lucas destroy these two!" 

"Are you kidding?" Robin scoffed. "Max has this in the bag." 

"As always." El chimed in. 

"Mike, you better start winning." Will sighed, a small smile curving at his lips. "You're embarrassing me." 

"I am _not." _Mike spluttered, jamming at the buttons furiously. "Steve and his friends distracted me, I'm doing _great_."

"Great at losing!" Max crowed excitedly. 

Jonathan appeared at his side, curled a hand in his and nodded at Tommy and Carol, who were watching the madness with wide eyes. 

"Hey Steve," He said quietly. "You alright? You've got that stress crease that Robin likes to tease you about." 

Steve shrugged nonchalantly. " 's just a headache." 

Jonathan frowned and Steve probably should've added reassurance that he was fine because he turned to the kids. 

"Hey, quiet down, Steve has a headache." 

Almost immediately, they went quiet, turning large worried eyes on him. 

"It's just a headache, I'm not dying-" He smiled. "But since I have your attention, I'd like you to meet some people. This is Tommy and Carol-" 

Mike and Lucas both raised identically skeptical eyebrows and Steve sighed internally. This was _not _going to go well. 

"_You're_ Steve's friends?"

Carol, not hearing the note of challenge in Mike's voice, nodded. "Yeah, we've been friends with Stevie since kindergarten." 

Lucas made a face and Mike clapped a hand over his mouth, like he was stopping himself from laughing. But Dustin, on the other hand, snorted. 

"_Stevie?" _He repeated. "Oh my God. Now you _can't _judge me on being called Dusty." 

"What? When have I-" Steve gaped. "_I _call you Dusty, shithead. When have I ever judged that?" 

Dustin tilted his head, a small smile creeping into his face. "So I can call you Stevie?" 

"Only if you want to get hit with a bat." 

Dustin pouted and Max sniggered. Mike gave Will the controller and stood, walking past Steve over to Tommy. 

"You're Steve's friend." 

Tommy nodded, throwing a quick uncertain glance over at Steve. 

"Why haven't we heard of you before?" Mike snapped. 

Steve winced and Jonathan gave him a gentle nudge because everybody knew how protective and hostile Mike could be. _All_ the kids really. It was cute, in a weird demonic sort of way. 

It took a while for Mike to warm up to Steve's presence, especially when he found out that Steve was dating both Nancy _and _Jonathan, but Steve was apparently a part of Mike's party. 

And party members were protected, even when they didn't need it. 

"That's cause we weren't really talking for a bit." Steve interjected, placing a gentle hand on Mike's shoulder. "But we're cool now so everything's great." 

Mike narrowed his eyes, looking skeptically but he merely huffed. "Fine." Then he glared, sharper, his small fists curling. "You better not hurt him." 

Tommy blinked. "Uh- I wouldn't dream of it." 

Steve smiled and ruffled Mike's hair. "Aw, little Wheeler, don't look now but you might actually care about me." 

Mike's cheeks reddened and he slapped his hand away before turning to walk back over to the couch. "I can't _stand_ you." 

But Steve knew better. 

It went smoothly after that. 

Steve offered to help Joyce make dinner and when he came out of the kitchen, Tommy and Max were going head to head at Super Smash Bros while Carol french braided El's hair. 

"You know, I could totally give you a complete makeover." Carol offered. "My little sister has some dresses that would fit you; we could have a fashion show." 

El's eyes widened and she twisted around to see Carol's face, accidentally making her let go of the half complete braid. Carol only smiled though. 

"Really?" 

"Of course!" Then Carol poked El's cheek. "Although, it's not like you really _need _a makeover. You're already really pretty." 

Steve smiled softly when El's cheeks went pink and she turned abruptly, allowing Carol to finish her work. A burst of noise from the boys made Steve wince but when he stepped back into the kitchen, his chest was warm. 

...

"_Shit _Hargrove." 

Billy shifted from where he stood outside Steve's door. He looked _bad. _A multitude of cuts all over his face, marks and scrapes that made it look like Billy had slid his face across the gravel. 

Steve ushered him in and shut the door behind him, rushing to go grab his first aid kit. He got back to see Billy sitting down on the couch, a distant look in his eyes. Steve kneeled down in front of him and tried to lock eyes with him. 

"Hargrove." Billy's gaze didn't even flicker. "Hargrove. _Billy." _

Billy's eyes shifted down towards him. He blinked once, slowly and Steve inhaled. 

"Hey, talk to me Hargrove." He said slowly. "What do you need?"

Billy's mouth opened, closed, then opened again. He lowered his head, shaking it like he couldn't say. Steve bit his lip, swallowing down curses. 

"Alright," Steve nodded. "It's okay-"

"How is it fucking okay?" Billy whispered, looking up at Steve with red eyes. "How is this okay?" 

Steve immediately shook his head. "It's not. It isn't. Of course it isn't." He paused. "Hargrove, you know this isn't your fault right?" 

Billy just looked at him with tired eyes. 

"Like, I know that it _feels _like it is. And I know that when- when he hits you, you feel like you deserve it." Steve swallowed. "And I know you think that maybe he really _wants _what's best for you. That he'll say that. But this isn't what's best for you. For anyone." 

Billy's eyes fluttered closed but he huffed out an unamused laugh. "Shit Harrington, when did you actually grow a brain?" 

Steve grinned and opened the First Aid kit. "When I find out, I'll let you know." 

...

"What's your dad like?" 

Steve looked over to the couch, where Billy was sitting. He had an ice pack pressed against his collarbone (which he refused to let Steve check out) but his eyes were way more attentive and _here _than they've been all night. 

"He's an asshole." 

Billy leaned forward slightly, like this was important for him to know. "Yeah, okay. Everyone's dad is an asshole Harrington. What's your dad like?"

"My dad-" Steve sighed heavily and mulled the question over in his mind. "I don't-" 

He stopped and Billy waited for Steve to put his words together.

"He's rich. He's tall. He likes baseball." Steve rattled off. "He, uh, used to hold these huge fucking dinner parties that would fill up this whole house. Just a lot of adults drinking wine and pretending that they like each other." 

"Sounds like hell." Billy interjected. 

"Pretty much." He nodded. "I don't really know that much about him. But- but he hated it when I'd disrespect him. Stupid shit too, like once I told him that it was stupid that I had to mop the floor because he was never here." 

"It is." 

"Yeah well, he didn't see it that way." Steve snorted. "He fucking pushed me down and stepped on my wrist, pushing it _into _the floor." 

Billy's eyes widened like he'd realized something. "When you came to practice and you said your wrist was-"

"Yeah." Steve nodded. That was a fucking practice terrible. Billy kept harassing him about his shot and Steve couldn't _do _anything about it because his wrist- well, it felt like a grown man wearing dress shoes ground it into a tile floor. "He just- he's strict." 

"Shit Harrington." Billy cursed. "At least my dad only does this shit when he's _drunk. _I can avoid him." 

Steve shrugged. "My dad isn't ever home though, so I'm lucky." 

Billy raised an eyebrow at him. "I think that's worse. At least Neil fucking acts like he cares when he isn't fucked up. Your dad-" Then he paused like something occured to him. "Wait, what about your mom?" 

Steve's brows furrowed. "What about her?" 

"What's she like?" 

"I mean, she's my mom." Steve offered after a moment. "She gets drunk too much and doesn't really care what I do and sometimes she'll lash out 'cause I put junk food in her kitchen but- she's my mom." 

"Junk food?" 

"She's a health nut." Steve sighed. "She also hates it when I'm touching the furniture- clean freak and all." 

"Is that why you're fucking laying on the floor?" 

Steve stiffened. "Uh- _no. _The rug is comfortable. A thousand dollars worth of comfort." 

Billy looked at him like he skeptical but Steve wasn't budging. But later, when Billy put his feet up onto the cushions, being sure to rub his socks against them, Steve bit back a smile. 

...

"Okay, what about this?" 

"Care, you look good in them all." 

"Okay but which one do I look _better _in?" 

"I think the lavender makes you look- softer somehow. But the blue one brings out your eyes." 

"_Thank you _Robby! See? Was that hard T?" 

Steve chuckled as Tommy raised his hands and plopped down on the bench next to Steve. Steve leaned over and nudged him, a smile on his face. 

"Dude, I can't believe you even tried." 

Tommy sighed like his soul was being drawn out of his body. "I mean, at this point_ Robin_ should be the one dating my girlfriend." 

He said it like a joke but Steve stiffened. 

Tommy wasn't dangerous- there was no way. He's seen Steve greet Jonathan with kisses enough times, had to watch as Tina and Carol held hands, _hell, _he's accepted kisses when the rare Spin the Bottle game landed on another guy in their old friend group. But, Steve couldn't forget the way the word_ fag _fell from his lips as easy as breathing. The countless hours spent teasing and bullying Jonathan and kids like him for no reason at all. Freshman and Sophomore year were hell and it wasn't until Steve was out of it that he realized how much it affected him. 

If Tommy ever said shit like that to Robin, Steve would drop him in a heartbeat. 

Steve opens his mouth to say- well, he doesn't really know because he never goes into these things with a plan- but he's cut off by Carol emerging from the changing room with the lavender dress.

"So, I know I promised that we'd leave after this but Robby needs a rainbow sweater- like _now_." 

Steve blinked at Robin, who was watching Carol with glowing eyes and burning cheeks. 

"A rainbow sweater?" Tommy repeated and Carol nodded, curls bouncing. Steve watched Robin's eyes follow those curls. 

"A rainbow sweater." Steve nodded. "Alright. Easy." 

...

Because they couldn't wait, Carol walked out of the store wearing the lavender dress and Robin, the brand new, bright rainbow sweater. They met up with Jonathan and Nancy at the Starbucks a couple stores down and Steve beamed when Jonathan presented him with a S'more frappuccino with no argument. 

"Robin, I love your sweater!" Nancy gushed. 

"I know," She scooted closer to Nancy could brush her hand down the sleeve and feel how soft it is. "Carol has a great eye." 

Carol smiled proudly and Tommy pressed a kiss to her forehead. 

"Don't worry Robby, I definitely threw some more rainbow sweaters in your bag when you weren't looking." 

Robin gaped and Steve playful reached out and pushed up her chin. She stuck her tongue out at him but smiled. 

"Steve, have I told you that I adore your friends?"

"Yes, multiple times now." Steve sighed overdramatically, dropping his chin into his hands like he was tired of it. In actuality, he loved it and being surrounded by a bunch of people that enjoyed each other's company was a million times better than anything else Steve could've imagined. "You better start telling them." 

Robin, completely unphased, turned to Tommy. "Tom, I love you. Thank you for blessing me with your car and your cool bomber jackets." 

Tommy flushed red and grinned so wide his white teeth shined. Jonathan and Nancy snickered and Robin turned to Carol. 

"And Carol, Care-bear, I love you. Thank you for your fashion advice, make up tips and amazing hugs." 

Carol sniffled and Steve remembered too late that she was very emotional but before she could even probably start crying or anything, a man walked by their table, bumped it harshly with his hip and leaned down with a sneer. 

"Fucking fags." 

There was a pause in which Robin's face reddened, Carol's face paled, Jonathan flinched and Tommy jerked before everything erupted into chaos. Tommy immediately shot out of his seat and grabbed the dude's shirt and punched the shit out of him. 

Steve launched up and grabbed Tommy's shoulders to pull him back as best he could but to his surprise Nancy shot up next and kneed the dude in the balls. He fell onto the ground and that's when Steve remembered they were still in a fucking Starbucks. 

Jonathan must've realized it too because he curled his arms around Nancy, holding her back from probably _murdering_ the dude and gently pushed her to the door. Steve let go of Tommy and grabbed Robin and Carol's hands and tugging them out. 

"You better stay the _fuck _down asshole." Tommy snapped from behind Steve before following him out. 

They hustled to the parking lot before the security guards could ask them questions. They were quiet but luckily they made it to Tommy and Steve's cars with no other issues. Tommy, after shaking out his fist, immediately folded his arms around Carol, who practically melted into his side. Steve squeezed Robin's hand, who was looking down at the rainbow sweater with angry, teary eyes. 

"I can't fucking believe-" Nancy huffed, pacing around in a circle between the two cars. "The _nerve. _I should go back in there and-" 

As hot as it was to watch Nancy fire herself up, Steve knew that it would be hard to get her calm later so he locked eyes with Jonathan and jerked his chin towards her. 

_Please stop her. _

Jonathan nodded and reached out a hand for her. She faltered but sighed heavily and curled her hand in his. He pulled her in and she pressed her face against his chest. 

"I'm gonna kill someone." She muttered. "No, I'm gonna kill that guy." 

"Get in line." Tommy huffed. "You alright Byers?" 

Jonathan nodded and Tommy sighed. 

"Hey, Rob," Steve said quietly, rubbing his thumb against her hand soothingly. "You okay?" 

She swallowed, kept her eyes down, but leaned her head against his shoulder. "I'm tired Steve. I just- I wanted to go get some coffee." 

"I know." Steve sighed. He buried his face into her hair. "I _know_." 

"You didn't have to punch him Tom." Robin said softly, sadly, while still half curled into Steve. Tommy's eyes widened and Steve tensed because Tommy _knew _about Carol but he didn't- 

"Naw bird," He smiled. "I've got your back. All of you." 

Carol pulled herself out of Tommy's arms and intertwined her and Robin's other hand. "Me too." 

"Me three." Jonathan nodded. 

"Me four." Nancy smiled. 

Something in Steve relaxed even though the world still fucking sucked. "You know I've got your back Robs." 

And in that moment, Robin's tiny smile seemed like a million bucks. 


	2. Right

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Do I now?" Steve muttered against Jonathan's smooth skin. "I have to?" 
> 
> "Uh yeah. You do." 
> 
> Steve swiveled around to see Nancy standing there, with her hands on her hips and Steve's blanket round her shoulders. 
> 
> "Nance-" 
> 
> "Don't you dare Nance me!" She huffed. She reached over Steve's burning pancake and grabbed a blueberry. "You guys were gonna have kitchen sex without me!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi, I'm not dead!

"Tell me about _your_ parents." 

Steve was really beginning to think his life was fucking insane. 

Not because of the random flesh eating demon monsters that sometimes roamed around, not because of the other poisonous dimension that sometimes opened or even because Steve was friends with a small girl who could throw him out the window with her _mind. _

No, it was because he was actually _friends _with Billy fucking Hargrove. 

It was one in the morning when Billy came over, talking about how- _Harrington, shut the fuck up, I need to get high right now- _And- _no you dumbass, I'm not hurt but I will hurt you in a second if you don't get me some weed right the fuck now. _

So, Steve scrounged up the last of Robin's pot brownies and, making a mental note to apologize to her later, took them and Billy up to his room. 

"My parents?" Billy repeated. "You wanna hear about my shitty life?" 

"Dude, you heard about mine." 

"Don't call me dude." 

"What the hell do you want me to call you? Bro?" 

"What the fuck Harrington?" 

"How about babe?" 

"That's gay." 

"You're gay." 

"What about it?" 

"Okay, so we've decided that I'm calling you babe?" 

"Whatever floats your boat princess." 

"What the fucking hell." 

"Princess Steve-" 

"Hargrove-"

"-It has a nice ring to it-" 

"Hargrove-" 

"Don't you think?" 

"_William. _Call me princess one more time, I will throw a basketball at your head." 

"Alright _Steven." _

Steve sat up at that, suddenly tense all over. Billy followed him, also sitting up and turning to face him, his eyes serious. 

"Shit, you don't want me to call you that?" Billy asked. His voice was cautious, careful. 

By now, Billy had been over enough and had talked to Steve enough to know that he could go on and talk for _hours _and say nothing at all. So, for as much as Steve didn't know about Billy, Billy also didn't know about Steve, which served for some pretty unsavory accidental triggers. 

Like now. 

Steve shook his head, rendered slightly mute because his head was ringing with- _Steven, why the hell are there still dishes in the sink _and _Get the hell out of the way Steven _and _God, Steven, how many times do I have to tell you to get off the furniture? _

Billy shifted closer, not touching, but close. "Hey, pretty boy, tell me what's going on in that big head of yours." 

Steve forced himself to inhale, then exhale, then look up at Billy. His eyes were intense, not worried but ready. The look was familiar. That look was- _I am ready to move away if you need but I can also move closer but I can also get water but I can also slap you out of this. _

It was a _I-can-help-pick-up-these-peices_ Look. 

Weirdly enough, Nancy had this same look. 

Steve searched for the words to explain. Why that name- _his _name- made him both numb and alert at the same time, why hearing it made Steve flinch, why he'd rather be called the worst names than the name that was on his birth certificate. 

"_Steve_." 

And that got his attention. They didn't do first names. Those were saved for the important shit, flashback, nightmare, panic attack- _shit _was he having a panic attack?

"Y-yeah, yeah. I'm-" He swallowed. "I'm-"

"Harrington, if you say you're okay I'm gonna drop kick you out of your own house." 

Steve snorted and the tension was gone. He let himself fall back onto his bed, like he was a puppet who had all his strings cut. 

His breathing stuttered slightly and _yeah, _Steve guessed he _was _having a panic attack. Jesus. 

"Nah," Steve looked up at his ceiling. Billy was still sitting up, all alert. It was kind of annoying. Steve was sort of grateful. "I wasn't gonna say that. I was- I mean, I haven't seen my parents in eight months." 

Billy was quiet at that. And for a second, everything was still. It was sort of like Steve had hit pause on his remote. But then Billy leaned back, next to him, so they were laying shoulder to shoulder on his bed. 

"Where do you think they are?" 

Steve hummed. "I'd like to think they're in Greece. I think my mom loves Greek yogurt." 

"Harrington, that is the sadest thing I've ever heard come out of your mouth." Billy said it in a way that wasn't pitying. Just matter of fact. Steve hummed again. 

"Yeah probably." Steve nudged Billy with his elbow and was not surprised when he got nudged back. "That's why I asked about _your _parents fucker." 

"Don't call me that, I liked babe better." Billy scoffed but Steve nudged him insistently, unwilling to be distracted. "I'll tell- but only if I can call you princess."

Steve rolled his eyes. "You can call me whatever you want." 

_Just don't call me Steven. _

Billy nodded and Steve wondered if Carol could put a French brain in his hair. She'd want to put flower pins in it too, the light blue ones that Carol can't wear because- _red and blue don't look good together like that Stevie. _

Steve waited for Billy to start speaking and when he didn't he went back to nudging him. 

"Al_right. _God_damn!" _Billy exclaimed, sounding exasperated. 

He paused and then-

"My dad likes to get drunk and pretend to be a father." He started unceremoniously. "He talks about responsibility and accountability and obedience like they're interchangeable." 

"Aren't they?" 

Billy paused and Steve could _hear_ his eyes rolling. "Nice one dipshit." 

"I thought I was princess?"

"Right now you're dipshit." 

Steve huffed but bit back a smile because some of that tension in Billy's shoulders relaxed and Billy nudged him. "He doesn't really do much damage when he's sober. Except yell. Cause you know, he's a dick." 

"Of course." Steve murmured. "The dickiest." 

"No, that's you." 

Steve half shrugged. "The biggest dick." 

"God, I though _I _was the gay one." 

"You are!" Steve nudged him again. "I'm only half and half. Like an ice tea and lemonade combo." 

"Shut the hell up." 

"Touchy." 

"My mom, Susan," Billy continued loudly. "-is tiny. And weak. She couldn't do anything anyway."

Steve doesn't know if he means couldn't do anything to _stop _Neil or _help _him and Steve doesn't _want _to know.

"He doesn't seem to hurt her like he hurts us, so that's good." 

"Not really though." Steve said. Because he's seen Max with large bruises in the shape of a hand on her arms, he's cleaned up Billy's cuts from beer bottles and glasses, he's stayed up until well into the morning to talk Billy down from some bullshit like running away with Max. 

He's seen it all and there is _nothing _good about anyparent that either turned a blind eye to this or helped it fester. 

Billy looked at him then looked up at the ceiling. His eyes were tired. "Not really though." He agreed softly. 

...

"Carol, I have to bring her back to the Chief in one piece alright?" 

Carol, already not listening, ushered El out of his car and up to her front door, chatting excitedly. Steve sighed, parked and got out slowly. 

"Hurry up Stevie!" Carol yelled. 

"Yeah," El's voice came right after. "Hurry up Stevie!" 

God, she was already influencing the kid. Steve hid his smile and jogged up and through the front door. The house was still the same as Steve remembered, normal sized, cozy, exactly like a home should be. 

Carol's mom was in the kitchen, but when she heard Steve's voice she immediately stepped out.

"Steve!" She exclaimed happily. She pulled of her oven mitts and pulled Steve into a huge hug. 

Carol's mother looked exactly like Carol, a tiny woman with a round face that was full of unassuming strength. But while Carol covered her freckles with make up and tamed her red curls religiously, Carol's mom kept her face clear so you could see her various freckles and her wild auburn hair. 

"Hi, Mrs. Collins." 

She pulled away and hit Steve on the arm. "Don't you _dare _call me that Steve. Makes me feel old." 

Steve laughed. "Like that could ever happen, Mrs. Quinn." 

She smiled. "Cookies will be done in about fifteen and there's lemonade and ice tea in the fridge. You know the drill, help yourself." Then she nodded to the stairs. "Mabel is upstairs." 

Steve nodded and moved to go but- 

"You know, I'm glad to have you over Steve." She said softly. "We've been missing you around here." 

Steve's cheeks started burning and he nodded again, feeling like a bobble head. "I- I've missed being here." 

...

They were all in Carol's room when Steve went up. El was sitting down at her vanity with Carol and Mabel standing behind the chair. Carol was fluffing El's hair, the way she did with Mabel when she was thinking about what she was going to do and Mabel was digging through Carol's make up bag. 

Mabel was a tiny little thing with sharp elbows, who hid a hot temper behind wide eyes and thick rimmed glasses. Steve used to babysit her back in freshman year because he wanted money that wasn't his dad's and he'd always had a soft spot for children. 

She was a little twerp and Steve missed her. 

"Hopper said no lipstick, other than that, go crazy." Steve said in lieu of a greeting and Mabel dropped the blush she was holding and immediately ran over to Steve, almost tackling him. 

"Steve!" 

She squeezed her arms around Steve as tight as a twelve year old girl could. The rims of her round glasses pressed into Steve's stomach painfully but Steve still bent down and curled his arms around her. 

"Hey, Mabel." He smiled into her curly hair. "I missed you." 

She pulled away and hit him in the arm, blue eyes narrowed in anger. "Where have you _been? _I know you were mad at Carol but you didn't have to be mad at me too!" 

Steve could see El and Carol watching them out of the corner of his eye; El, looking confused and worried and Carol, looking ashamed and sad and guilty. But Steve was _done _with that- she apologized and has been making up for her mistakes ever since and that was more than enough for him.

"Oh Mabel, I wasn't mad at you. _Or _Carol." Steve made eye contact with her before placing two comforting hands on Mabel's shoulders. "I had to take some time for myself- but I'm here now?" 

Mabel's face scrunched up more but she tackled him once more, burying her face into his chest, seemingly accepting his excuse. 

"I'm glad." She whispered. "You're a _much _better brother than Tommy." 

Steve stiffened in shock for a half a second before hugging her tighter. 

...

Steve would've been content to sit and watch as Mabel and Carol curled El's hair and bushed powders over her cheeks and place careful sparkles onto her eyes. Steve's always found the process of applying make up interesting. When he was a kid, he'd watch his mom put on dull lipsticks and curl her eyelashes and he'd watch Tina, Nicole and Carol exchange bright eyeshadow pallets. Even now he was mesmerised by the way that Robin painted her nails or the delicacy that Nancy used when she filled in her eyebrows. 

Not that he thought any of them needed all this, but the process of having it done always sparked an interest in Steve. 

Which is probably why he hardly protested when Mabel grabbed him, told him to sit on the floor and started placing butterfly clips and bows and barrettes in his hair. 

"Has Nancy tried putting pig tails in your hair yet?" She asked as she tied a bright red ribbon into a bow. 

"Nope. But Robin has." 

"Oh." Mabel tugged a little and put another clip on, a red one with a small plastic rose on it. "How old is she?" 

"Seventeen. She doesn't really do hair that much though." Steve thought about Robin's wild strands that she just barely combed. "She likes to paint nails."

"Oh. Maybe she can paint my nails one day?" 

Steve thought about Robin, who rolled her eyes at Dustin and Mike but played Pac Man with them, griped about the amount of children that followed Steve around but always gave Erica more hot fudge than she asked, who joked about Steve needing to buy a mini-van but let El sit in her lap on the way to the arcade. 

"I think she'd love that." 

"Alright!" Carol exclaimed, straightening up. "I'm finished!" 

She swiveled El's chair around to face them and Mabel gasped. And Steve had to agree.

Carol hadn't done much, because, like she said at Jonathan's house, El didn't need that much done. There was a pale pink shimmery gloss on her lips, a light, hardly visible dusting of pink blush on her cheeks and two identical swatches of sparkling blue going from dark to light around her eyes. Steve wished he knew more about makeup to appreciate it the way he should. 

"That's amazing Carol!" He said instead. She flapped her hand at him like it was nothing and El spun around to look at herself in the mirror. 

She was quiet for a moment before asking, softly. "Pretty?" 

Carol smiled at her in the mirror. "No, not pretty. _Gorgeous._" 

El's eyes widened and Steve wished he had Jonathan's camera to take a picture of the dazzling smile that followed. 

...

Steve doesn't think he'd ever get over seeing Nancy and Jonathan casually being in his house. There would never be a day where it would be old news. 

He's realized that he _likes _having them around. 

Or course, he loves them and he's never _not _wanted to be around him but this felt different somehow. 

Sure, he likes having Jonathan's hand in his or Nancy's lips on his cheeks. But he also likes seeing Nancy's sweaters in his room and Jonathan's toothbrush in his bathroom. He likes cooking pasta and steak and salmon for them and having them sit at his dinner table. He likes lounging in his living room with them, on the couch while watching whatever terrible Disney Channel original movies Nancy's collected. He likes pressing Jonathan up against his hallway, with Nancy biting marks into his side. 

He loves having them around but having them in his house is an amazing feeling that Steve can't describe. Robin would say- _you're happy because it's healing some childhood trauma, _Tommy would say- _dude, you're just happy, _and Carol would say- _oh, you're in love Stevie, it's beautiful. _

Well, whatever it was, it made Steve scoot out of warm cuddles with them and head downstairs so make them breakfast. Jonathan and Nancy's shoes were by the front door and their jackets were in the closet and Steve's heart was full enough to flip pancakes at eight in the morning on a Saturday. 

That's what he was doing when strong arms snaked around his waist and a nose pressed into the side of Steve's neck. 

"Morning Jon." Steve laughed. 

"Mhm, you know I love it when my handsome boyfriend cooks breakfast in the morning." He mumbled. "But I love it even more when he stays in bed with us." 

Steve rolled his eyes, a fond smile making his cheeks hurt. "You know, you can't have it both ways. You're either going to eat these blueberry pancakes or you're gonna have me in bed." 

Jonathan pressed a kiss to Steve's neck, then another, then _another._

"_Jonathan_," Steve hissed, "I'm going to burn them if you-" 

"Come back to bed." Jonathan said softly. "Nancy's cold." 

"And so you left her up there-" 

Jonathan pressed _another _kiss to Steve's neck and tightened his arms around Steve's waist. "_Steve." _

"Listen, I'm trying to-" 

"Uh huh." Steve could practically _hear_ the smile tugging at his lips.

"You're not listening." 

Jonathan, seemingly dissatisfied with Steve's lack of movement towards the bedroom, nipped at his neck. Steve legs wobbled and he inhaled sharply. 

"_Steve." _Jonathan repeated urgently. 

Steve blinked down at the stupid pancake and thought- _fuck it-_before spinnning out of Jonathan's grasp and attaching his lips to his boyfriend's warm neck. He splayed his fingers out on Jonathan's chest and pressed close against him. 

"Does this mean you're coming back to bed?" Jonathan asked, his voice strained in the way that told Steve that he was doing a great job with the hickey he was intent on making. "Cause now-" His voice broke with a groan. "Now you _have _to." 

"Do I now?" Steve muttered against Jonathan's smooth skin. "I _have _to?" 

"Uh _yeah. _You do." 

Steve swiveled around to see Nancy standing there, with her hands on her hips and Steve's blanket round her shoulders. 

"Nance-" 

"Don't you dare Nance me!" She huffed. She reached over Steve's burning pancake and grabbed a blueberry. "You guys were gonna have kitchen sex with_out _me!" 

Steve stepped away from Jonathan, as if to say- _hey man, not me, _and turned the burner off. "I was just trying to cook breakfast for us." 

"But you left us up there all cold!" She huffed and she looked so adorable when she was pretending to be mad that Steve had to press a kiss to her forehead. 

"M' sorry babe." Steve blinked round eyes at her. "But blueberries?" 

Jonathan again came in from behind and curled his arms around Steve's waist. "Blueberries later, bed _now." _

Nancy nodded firmly, like this was the most important thing in the world and Steve felt himself caving. Between Jonathan, nuzzling into the back of Steve's neck and then Nancy twisting Steve's blanket tighter around her, Steve was putty in their hands. 

"Alright." He sighed, trying his hardest to sound exasperated. From the way Jonathan kissed at his neck, he probably didn't succeed. "I guess we'll have a late brunch then." 

...

Billy Hargrove didn't understand Steve's obsession with his sister and her friends. 

He saw them sometimes, after school. He'd wait for Max but his sister would beeline straight for Harrington's car with a bunch of the other kids following behind, chatting excitedly. They sounded annoying and overwhelming, tugging on Steve like he was their mother. 

He'd humor them, smiling at whatever the curly haired kid was trying to tell him, keeping a steady hand on the Byers kid's shoulder, bantering easily with the Wheeler kid. 

Before, Billy watched them with rage. Because his step-sister never looked at him like that and Billy, though he loathe to admit it, was jealous of the ease Harrington had with handling the kids. He also thought Harrington was fucking weird because his best friends were children and he hung around with his ex and her new boyfriend and he seemed to _enjoy _it. 

But now, after actually _hanging out _with Harrington and hearing- _Those kids go through too much, they deserve a little happiness sometimes- _and- _My house is always empty Hargrove. The kids may be annoying but they're here for me just like I am for them. _

Billy thought it was tooth-rottingly sweet and _fuck _he was starting to actually _enjoy _seeing Harrington happy. A friendship with 'King Steve' was probably the last thing Billy would have guessed would happen when he had stumbled onto his door step but- 

Here we are. 

Billy didn't do shit halfway so he decided to go to Harrington's ex, Byers and the weird band nerd Harrington was always hanging around and tell them, straight up, that him and Harrington were cool now. 

Because he wasn't an _idiot- _not like Harrington was. 

He could see them when they came down the hallways; Steve would see him, grin and open his mouth like he was gonna say something that would make Billy roll his eyes, when Wheeler would catch his attention and Byers would subtly steer him away and because Harrington was so busy making moon eyes at them, he didn't even realize. 

And Billy wasn't jealous. He _wasn't. _

But- he should be able to hang out with Harrington just like all his other weird ass friends. 

So Billy decided, as soon as school let out, he'd head straight for Harrington's car, which was bound to have the little nerds and Harrington _and _Wheeler _and _Byers. 

He'd tell Max and her posse to fuck off and then gruffly say sorry to Nancy and Jonathan for bashing Steve's face in and then he'd yank Harrington over to his car so they could go get high and make fun of a porno. 

The bell rang and Billy made his way- casually- towards the exit and out onto the parking lot. He scanned the grounds- there was Veronica Teller macking on her boyfriend, Carol Collins talking loudly to Tommy and- 

No Harrington. 

But, there was a flash of familiar red and Billy turned to see Max, gripping tightly to Henderson and Sinclair's hands, sprinting across the parking lot. Tiny Byers was right behind them, with Wheeler falling behind. 

Billy frowned as they skidded to a stop in front of Steve's car, obviously looking as confused as Billy was that he wasn't here, but they preceded to huddle against the car anyway. 

The curly haired kid- Dustin, Billy's mind corrected- said something to Max, and even Billy, who didn't know the kid at _all, _could see that he was frantic. 

_Shit. _

Had something happened to Harrington?

Billy stiffened, trying to think. He didn't see Steve this morning and hadn't seen him all through the halls. Today at lunch, Wheeler and Byers were sitting with _Carol and Tommy H_ of all people- and of course, that band nerd that Billy didn't know the name of. 

Maybe Steve's parents were back? 

Shit. 

Shit. Shit. _Shit_.

He needed to- no- he _had _to- Steve was- 

Steve was his best friend. Well, his only _real _friend that didn't fawn over him and try to get with him or try to glean popularity from him, but still. Billy was sure that meant something. He had to _do _something. 

And Billy would. He'd storm right up to those kids and shake the truth out of them then he'd speed his Camaro right over to Harrington's palace and grab him out of there because Henry Harrington fucks his kid up way more than Billy ever could and if there would _ever_ be an abusive father that Billy was revved up to fight it would be Steve's. 

Billy began gearing up to punch whoever would get in his way when another kid-one that Billy didn't recognize- walked across the parking lot towards Steve's car. He moved with a bop, something that screamed _I'm a douchebag and will peak in middle school. _

Max_, _immediately noticing the kid, pushed herself to the front of their group, keeping Will and Mike behind her. Her hair glinted in the sun, her eyes were ablaze with anger and her fists clenched like she was going to war. 

She said something, and from the way her mouth moved, Billy could tell it was sharp and harsh. The boy didn't seem phased, leaning forward with a curl to his lips that made Max shift back and Sinclair and Henderson step forward menacingly. 

Sinclair hardly opened his mouth before the kid threw his arms out and shoved him. 

Billy was moving before he even realized what was happening. 

"Hey kid!" Billy snapped. Out of the corner of Billy's eye he could see Wheeler move to step in front of Byers and Max grab Sinclair's arm, but he payed it no mind. "What the hell are you doing fucking with my sister's friends?" 

The kid's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open slightly but Billy figured he didn't look as scared as he should've been. 

"We're just messing around." The kid, who Billy decided was stupid as fuck, looked over at Lucas. "Aren't we just messing around _Lucas_?" 

Lucas shifted, eyes flickering from Billy to the kid like he was trying to decide which one posed the lesser threat. 

Which, valid. But Billy needed to _deal_ with this so he could find out about Harrington so he could deal with that. 

"Well Sinclair?" Billy asked.

Lucas grimaced but shook his head. "This guy's a _dick." _

The kid paled and that was all the confirmation that Billy needed. He reached forward and curled a hand into the collar of the kid's shirt. 

"If I _ever _see you fucking around with these kids again, I'll make sure to it that you'll be regretting it all the way to your senior year of highschool. Got it?" The kid nodded jerkily and Billy let go of his shirt, making him stumble slightly. Then, because Harrington would do this type of shit, he added. "Apologize." 

The kid stuttered out a wack apology and then scuttled off and Billy rolled his eyes. He turned to Max, questions about Steve poised on his tongue because _he was fucking ready _but-

Wheeler, Byers and Henderson had wide eyes, like they'd just been electrocuted, Max was smiling smugly, like a point she had was proven and Sinclair, while still looking shocked, still had the narrowed eyes of suspicion that Billy was used to. 

"_What." _Billy snapped. 

"You didn't have to do that." Max said immediately. She tilted her head, that stupid smile still locked in place. "That was cool." 

"_Very _cool." Henderson chimed in enthusiastically. 

"Super very cool." Byers said quietly, something like wonder in his voice. And that made Billy feel squeamish. This was how they looked at _Steve. _With something akin to adoration as he put up with their antics and annoyances. 

Billy inhaled, about to say _I'm not Harrington, go home _but Sinclair frowned. "It wasn't _that _cool." 

Wheeler was quick to agree, nodding so that his black hair flopped all over the place. "Pretty tame. I've seen better." 

Billy balked, but Max rolled her eyes, shooting Billy a grin and-

Oh. 

They were _making fun _of him. 

Well shit. 

"You've seen better?" Billy asked, raising an eyebrow the way he's seen Steve do a million times. Somehow it was always simultaneously smug and soft and Steve did that; he just displayed every emotion in one facial tick. "Who's better than me?" 

"Steve." They all said immediately. And their tone left room for zero argument. Then, in unison, they smiled. At each other and _then _at Billy and there was that squirmy stomach feeling again. 

"Yeah, whatever, King Steve, blah blah blah." Billy scoffed, his eyes cutting over to the doors of the school where he could see Tommy, Carol, Jonathan _and _Nancy all standing. And if Harrington was hurt, wouldn't they be hurrying to him? What the fuck? "Where the hell is he anyway?" 

From Max's look, it was clear Billy wasn't able to sound as nonchalant as he'd intended but Henderson seemed excited to share now that he found a new savior, so he pushed forward. 

"Well, Steve's in track right now and we're waiting for him to get out." And, because Henderson was a never ended faucet of information, he added- "And Robin has band so we're all waited for them cause it's Friday and that's their night." 

Internally, Billy let out such a big sigh of relief that his bones felt like jello. Thank _fucking _God. He was gonna kick Harrington's _ass _next time Billy saw him. There was no fucking reason why he couldn't have known that so he didn't lose his _shit. _

"You wanna wait with us?" Will asked softly and from the way his eyes flickered back to the middleschool, Billy was sure it was because he was afraid of that dumbass kid coming back. But Billy could also see the way Wheeler stiffened and Sinclair's frown intensified. 

"Naw kid." Billy said, backing up casually. "I don't hang with nerds. Your brother's over there if you wanted to not look like you're breaking into Harrington's car." 

The kids paused for a moment before they all dashed off as one, leaving Max behind to look at him. She looked nervous now that her friends weren't there; her cheeks red but her gaze resolute. 

"Thank you." She said stiffly. "For that." 

Billy blinked. "No problem." He said gruffly. 

She squinted down at her shoes. Chewed at her bottom lip. Fidgeted a little and Billy was about to tell her to go on, go with her friends when she shot forward and squeezed her arms around him. 

"You're really not so bad." She said quietly. And before Billy could even process any of that, she was sprinting away towards her friends, her red hair flying behind her. 

Huh. Well, fuck. 

...

"You know what, I just remembered why I keep you two around." 

Carol and Robin looked over at Steve who was leaning against his kitchen doorway with a soft smile on his face. Carol knew what that smile meant: he'd been thinking recently. Thinking good thoughts, thinking about good things. 

"And why is that?" Robin asked, her voice sliding easily into that tone she took up when she and Steve would go back and forth, all fond and teasing. 

"It smells like a bakery in here." His smile stayed soft and _huh_, Steve must really be in a good mood. "It's nice." 

"What's going on?" Carol asked, an unconscious smile tugging at her lips. She couldn't help it. Seeing Steve happy was contagious; she wished it happened more often. 

Steve shrugged, one shoulder after the other, his smile growing slightly. "Nothin', just happy." 

Robin smiled too and Carol's smile widened. And damn, they looked like a bunch of smiling fools. But Carol figured it was justified because Robin's smile was beautiful and Steve's smile was precious and they were all friends and the kitchen smelled like cookies and Carol was so _happy. _

"That's good." Robin nodded. Then her smile grew, her eyes twinkling in the way that said _I have something to tell you and you're gonna flip. _It made Carol's heart do a two step in her chest but she didn't have enough time to analyze that fully because Robin was still talking. 

"Katie Moon asked me to the movies on Sunday." 

And Carol felt like she was missing something. Something important. Something very _very _importing, judging by the way Steve's eyes widened into saucers. 

"Get the fuck _out _Rob. Oh. My. God!" He _squealed. _And wow, Steve _squealed. _That's a first for Carol; she's never heard that sound come from him before. "You're kidding, you're _kidding-" _

"Nope." She giggled, shaking her head so her hair swung back and forth. "Nope. Nope. I'm not, I swear-" 

"Oh my God_." _Steve also giggled and his hands fluttered like he had no idea what to do with them. "Oh my _God__. _Rob, what are you gonna _see?" _

_"_I don't know!" Robin exclaimed, bouncing on her toes. The sight was so fucking adorable that Carol had to stifle a giggle. "I don't know Steve, she wanted it to be a surprise!" 

Steve's jaw dropped. "Oh my _God _Rob. That's-" He made a face, sort of like- _you know what that means- _and Robin, apparently knowing what that means, smiled even wider. 

"I _know!" _She screeched, doing another adorable hop. "I know, I know." 

"And Katie Moon-" Steve wooshed out a breath. "W_-ow_."

Robin's shoulders bunched up to her ears and she did a little shimmy. "I _know_." 

"She's-"

"Absolutely positively _beautiful!" _Robin crowed, turning and hopping in a circle like all her excitement wouldn't let her stand still. 

And then, several things clicked for Carol in that moment. It was sort of an Aha moment. But, at the exact same time, it wasn't _really. _Because she sort of knew and kind of guessed and maybe hoped but know she _knew _and it was just- 

Aha. 

"_Wow." _Steve marveled, watching Robin do her little half-hop half-twirl happy dance with such a proud look on his face that it could've made Carol cry. "That's crazy."

"Good crazy." Robin sighed. 

"The best crazy." Steve confirmed. 

Carol didn't really know how to add to this, because Steve and Robin both seemed to forget she was there in all their excitement, plus, she's never been good at this. 

For fuck's sake, she came out to her mother by accidentally buying a shirt that said _Move I like girls _with her credit card. 

But Katie Moon was really really pretty. She had choppy, sunlight blonde hair that was always ruffled just enough so that you knew she didn't care. She almost _always _had paint on her hands or her clothes or her shoes and she was _bold._ She put tiny star stickers on her notebooks and wore homemade ripped jeans and skateboarded everywhere and wore stylish snap backs that made Carol jealous. 

She was bright and loud and brave and _perfect _for Robin. 

So, because Carol was so terrible at this, she just decided to go for it. _Full send, _the little Tommy in her head said. 

"Oh my God, Katie Moon is so gorgeous." 

Robin paused, eyes widening. Steve inhaled, then exhaled. He shifted- first towards Carol, then towards Robin- like he couldn't decided whether he wanted to support Carol or watch whatever was about to happen with wonder. 

"Isn't she?" Robin asked, leaning forward a little. There was a hint of a waver in her voice, a sort of _I'm not so sure about this, _that steeled Carol's resolve. 

"Are you kidding?" She scoffed. "God, if I wasn't taken, then-" And then Carol tried to copy Steve's earlier look- _You know what that means- _hoping, above all hope that Robin knew what she meant. 

Robin blinked and there was a small pause before a hesitant smile spread over her face. Carol's heart did a little hop. "Yeah. Yeah!" 

Then they all burst into giggles. Loud, relieved, shoulder shaking giggles. And maybe it shouldn't have been so unclear: Carol _did _buy Robin a rainbow sweater a couple weeks ago. But it was great. 

It was amazing and it was _safe._


	3. Real

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Jonathan! Robin! Do you know where Steve is?" She panted. 
> 
> Jonathan's eyes widened and Robin blinked and Nancy couldn't blame them- she probably looked crazy. She definitely felt crazy. But then Jonathan moved towards her and placed two strong hands on her shoulders and Robin reached out to curl a hand around her wrist. 
> 
> "What do you mean 'know where Steve is'?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we got angst galore people!

Sometimes Steve wondered if he should keep allowing the kids to play this game while he hosted them. 

"No offense," Max sighed, sounding just a tiny bit bored, "but when do I get to kill something?" 

"_If _you could even kill the something that's coming." Dustin pointed out, tilting his head sideways at Max. 

"Are you saying that I couldn't kill the something?" She asked. "I'd be _amazing _at killing the something." 

El smiled brightly, nodding. "She'd be great at killing the something." Then she made a face, all scrunched up like she was thinking hard. "She'd be- prodigious." 

Lucas blinked. "Why is her vocabulary better than mine?" 

"Because you suck." Mike said, waving him off. "Anyway-" His voice went quieter, adopting that hushed quality that he used he was immersing the party. "You're walking deeper and deeper into the cave. It's quiet, it's _really _quiet. Your own heartbeat and breathing are the only sounds you can hear- it's unnerving. You turn a corner, expecting to see more cave but instead there's a door." 

Max, who had been looking more and more excited, blew out a harsh breath and leaned back. "Boring." 

"A door?" Will asked, still just as excited as before. 

Mike smiled briefly before leaning forward even more. "The door is wedged between the rock- up at the part of the path where it starts to get narrow. You have to crawl because the cave top is swooping low." 

Steve stifles a smile as they all lean in close. Even Max, who was trying to seemed disinterested, couldn't help but crane her head closer. 

"And just as you reach the door- just as you reach out and brush your fingers over the knob- someone on the other side knocks." 

Just then: there was a series of pounding bangs at Steve's door. The kids all jumped about a half foot into the air and, not ashamed to admit it, so did Steve. 

"What the hell- who the hell is _that_?" Mike snapped as Steve practically vaulted over the couch to get to the door. He could hear the waver in Mike's voice and see the way that Will instantly folded into Lucas' side but Steve was too busy stressing out to comfort them- 

He _knew_ that knock.

That was Billy. And he didn't knock like that when he wanted to fuck around and smoke weed. 

He knocked like that when he was in _trouble_. 

So Steve, with tense shoulders and hands that were _ready- _to either catch or fight, he didn't know, he didn't _know- _ opened the door. As expected, Billy stood on the other side. Well, not standing, more so leaning against his doorway. 

His eye was black and his shoulders were hunched and he bared his teeth and it felt like Steve was zapped with a thousand volts because he could see _blood _in Billy's mouth. 

It shouldn't have been so earth shaking- Steve's seen the bruises, he's wrapped the sprains, he's ignored the way Billy wears his leather jacket when it's ninety degrees. 

This shouldn't have been any different. 

"Hey, Harrington," And he said it like they were discussing the weather, like it was a normal fucking day. "Can I come in?" 

"Y-yeah." Steve stuttered, blinking away the sight of red against white. "Of course. Holy shit dude." 

Billy kinda pushes pass him before jerking to a stop and _shit _Steve forgot the kids were even there. How did he- 

"What the fuck?" Mike exclaimed.

Max scrambled to her feet, her eyes wide as bowling balls. "_Billy_-" 

"Hey nerds." Billy cut her off, trying for what Steve would assume was a light tone. The insult- which was said like a term of endearment- sounded awkward in his mouth, like he didn't know if he could say it or not, like he didn't know whether he was saying it right. 

The kids' eyes all widened, obviously having caught sight of the red staining Billy's teeth. 

"_Billy_." Max repeated, her eyes wider- _scared. _She taking a hesitant step forward on shaky legs and Steve decided he didn't like that look on her. 

Max wasn't hesitant, she was fiery, she was fierce, she said what she meant and she meant what she said. Steve hated to think about her stepping on eggshells and creeping around nervously. He hated to think about her living in that _house _with that _man. _

"Hey twerp." Billy nodded.

Steve shifted anxiously because they didn't have _time for this. _He knew from experience that the taste of blood in your mouth wasn't pleasant and if there was even the ghost of a drop of blood on his mom's white carpet- 

"What the hell happened to your _face?" _Dustin asked Steve finally snapped into action. 

He knew that they couldn't know. If there was one promise that Steve made to himself when all this started- when he found himself with a group of kids hanging out in his home, eating snacks in his kitchen, asking him to take them to arcades- and it was that he would never involve the kids in this.

The way he flinched when he heard the lock to the front door turn or the way he frantically 

They would never know. They didn't deserve that. He wouldn't let it touch them. It was too much, too terrible, too horrifying. 

Max was enough. Max was too much. 

There couldn't be anyone else. 

He didn't have time to think or ask about the kids' hesitant familiarity with Billy, just the same as Max and Mike and Dustin didn't have time to ask about _Steve's_ easy familiarity with Billy. 

"Shit, come on Hargrove." Steve said, shutting the front door and maneuvering around Billy without touching. No touching, not yet- he knew. "Come on, the first aid kit- let's go." 

Billy blinked, his weight shifting slightly and _nope, _Steve wasn't doing this now. He wasn't going to deal with a hesitant Max _and _a hesitant Billy. 

"Let's _go _Hargrove." Steve repeated, his voice turning stern. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Lucas stand and Max take another step forward. He could see El's eyes narrow and Will grip the coffee table, his eyes wide. But Steve only had eyes for Billy. 

And the blood that was slowly dripping down from his nose. 

"Yeah." Billy nodded, a little absently. A little nervously. "First aid kit. Right." 

A couple of nerve-wracking seconds went by where, as Steve led him down the hall, he was sure that Billy would be skittish the _whole _time he was here and that Steve would have to actually check him for a concussion. 

But when they made their way into the bedroom and Steve grabbed the first aid kit, Billy sighed. 

He shoved at Steve's shoulder, pushing him back out to the living room. "Go on Harrington, I don't need to be coddled." 

Steve paused, eying him skeptically. Billy shoved at him again. "Your children are waiting." 

Steve hummed, nodding once. _Finally. _They were back on track. Still, Steve didn't go. "You sure? Your ugly mug says otherwise." 

_Are you sure you're good? _

Billy rolled his eyes- well, _eye_\- and pushed at Steve's shoulder _again_. There was no real effort behind it; it was more like a nudge than a push. "I'm hotter than you and you know it princess. Go on, the nerds are probably losing their fucking minds." 

_I'm good. This is nothing. _

Steve huffed. "Keep telling yourself that Hargrove. There's a blanket in my closet. Two."

_Alright. I trust you. Stay here tonight. Max too._

Billy nodded. "Yeah, I know." He paused again and his eyes focused on the carpet. "Thanks." 

_We will. _

Steve shrugged like it was no big deal. And maybe it wasn't. And maybe it should've been.

...

Their dnd game was pushed to the side, discarded in favor of swarming around Steve when he got back to the living room. They crowded around him; Dustin peeking under Steve's arm curiously, El tugging at his shirt anxiously, Mike's eyes narrowed so tightly that it had to hurt.

"Steve, what's going on?"

_"_Is he okay?"

"Since when are you guys..._friends?" _

The only kid not asking questions was the one that Steve worried about the most. 

Max lingered back, her hands twisting in her sweater sleeves nervously. She had her bottom lip between her teeth and her gaze was distant- worried. 

"Alright, alright." Steve sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose to fend off the oncoming headache. God, he was becoming a _mother._ "I need you little shitheads to sit down, quiet down and calm down. I'll explain in a second." 

They- except for the fact that Mike's suspicious glance didn't seem to lessen- all nodded and backed off. Steve reached out and stopped Max before she could join them. 

"Hey, could you do me a favor and show Billy where the alcohol swabs are? I think I took them out of the first aid kit." 

Steve didn't and he'd never and thankfully Max realized that because she sighed and nodded. 

"Thank you." She whispered gratefully before taking off down the hallway. 

The other kids called for him so he got himself together. He took a breath, he tried to relax his shoulders. 

"Shove over Dust-bin. I'll tell you how we became friends if you promise to not bother me about it." 

He kept the story brief, explaining that they came to his house once when they needed help- he didn't specify, because he _wasn't_ gonna let it touch them- but Max would tell them what she felt comfortable telling and it was Billy's secret, not his- _not yet. _But from the way that Lucas clenched his fists and Dustin's eyes cut down to the floor, Steve figured that they already had a pretty good idea. 

He said that him and Billy realized that they had more in common then they thought. That they'd started cautiously and then it gradually developed into somewhat of a friendship. 

Mike made a halfheartedly snide comment about how he didn't have faith in Steve's ability to choose good friends, Dustin pointed out that Steve was friends with them, _so he can't be too bad _and then Will added in the fact that Steve made friends with Jonathan, Nancy _and _Robin so at this point he was three for six, which was fifty percent. Lucas frowned, pointed out that fifty percent was a failing grade but then El said that there were six of them so it was more like nine for twelve and at that point it was way too much math for Steve to handle so he told them to shut up. 

They didn't ask anymore questions about Billy or Max or Steve and he was grateful. 

When Billy came out with Max trailing behind, the air was tense but Dustin, sweet, amazing Dustin, who Steve owed a million bowls of pasta, loudly proclaimed that they hadn't finished their game. Mike and Will immediately moved to fix it back up and Steve ignored the way that Max curled her hand into Dustin's under the table. 

Billy plopped down next to Steve on the couch and after a moment of intense studying from El, she simply said "You have weird hair," and turned back to Mike. 

Billy blinked and Max laughed, cutting adoring eyes over to El's slightly pink face. 

"Uh, thanks?" 

Steve smirked and bumped his shoulder lightly. "That wasn't a compliment Hargrove. She's just too nice to say that you're ugly." 

Billy scoffed. "Kid, please tell me that my hair is better that this dumbass." He jutted a thumb at Steve, leveling a look at El. "I mean, look at him." 

"El loves me." Steve crowed. "She thinks my hair is good for braiding." 

Billy turned his look onto Steve, practically saying _that's the dumbest shit I've ever heard _with his eyeballs. 

"It's true." Will nodded. "He has the best hair." 

There was a chorus of agreement and Steve shot Billy a shit-eating grin. 

Billy rolled his eyes and gently pushed Steve's shoulder. "What the fuck _ever_ Harrington, I'm still hotter than you." 

Steve wanted to shoot back _not when you're all busted and blue _but that seemed like too much. So he swallowed it down and decided to table it for another time. 

Maybe he could bring it up again when they had their (practically nightly) arguments about Billy confiding in Hopper. Maybe it would convince him. 

Probably not. 

...

Tommy didn't _really _know what to think of his life anymore. 

But as he watched Carol pull out her collection of orange, red and yellow nail polishes and then Robin pull out her green, blue and black polishes and as expected, Nancy pulled out her clear, pink and purple polishes he had one thought- _oh fuck. _

He was definitely not walking out of here with his normal nails. 

His dad was never fond of things like this. Boys wearing makeup and getting their nails done or even wearing pink- he took it like it was a personal offense to him. He didn't want Tommy even listening to what he dubbed as 'girly' music- which, Tommy didn't realize that _Lauv_ was a girl but hey, you learn something new everyday. 

Every other time Carol asked he said no, saying that he couldn't because of his dad. He'd painted Carol's nails to make up for it but always ended up feeling guilty for not letting her, then he'd get mad at his dad for fucking him up _then _he'd get mad at himself for letting his dad fuck him up. 

It was just a mess of emotions all the time. 

But Steve, who was laying stomach down on the floor with his head propped up with his hands, looked vaguely fascinated. 

"Guys," Carol smiled, turning her gaze onto Tommy, "It's about to be a nail painting party." 

Jonathan tilted his head curiously but didn't say anything. Tommy winced and Steve, catching the look, sat up quickly. 

"I call red!" Steve exclaimed. Carol smiled and tossed Robin the red. 

"Wait, what if I wanted red?" Tommy asked, simply because he wanted to see Steve's boyishly excited look. And he was rewarded when Steve turned to stick his tongue out at Tommy. 

"I called dibs." 

"Uh, _no you didn't." _

Steve raised an eyebrow. "I. Call. Dibs. On. Red." 

And maybe Tommy should've expected that. 

"Whatever, my nails are gonna be cheetah print." Tommy huffed before turning wide pleading eyes onto his girlfriend. Carol looked a "Care, can my nails be cheetah print?" 

Carol wrinkled her nose. "Ew. Also no." 

"_Ha." _Steve laughed mockingly without looking over. 

"Fine." Tommy pouted. "Can my nails just be better than Stevie's?" 

Carol opened her mouth to respond but Steve laughed heartily. "Haters gonna _hate." _

_"_Shut the hell up Harrington." 

"Make me Hill." 

"Dingus, stop _moving." _Robin cut in and Tommy was grateful because he didn't really know how to respond to that. 

There's always been something. About Steve. It just made Tommy a little unsure and a little nervous. It shook him a bit. Tommy never knew what it was but when Steve was gone- _because Tommy pushed him away by being an asshole_\- he felt like his world sort of crumbled. 

Like he lost an important part of himself. 

And for a while, he could pretend it didn't hurt. But like an infection, it only got worse as it wasn't treated. 

Steve was more than a best friend to Tommy; he was a brother too. But sometimes-

"Alright, alright Robin." Steve groaned. "I'm still, I'm still." Then he turned and smirked at Tommy. "But we're a better team than Carol and Tommy right Rob?" 

Tommy's heart fluttered. 

"Mhm. In your dreams Harrington." He scoffed instead of saying what he _wanted _to say. "In your dreams. Byers, come over here and get your nails done, you're not sneaking out of this one." 

Nancy smiled, pulling out a navy blue color. "Oh don't worry Tommy, he's definitely not. Come here babe." 

Jonathan sighed like he was mad about it but his fond smile said otherwise. "Yeah, okay." 

Carol ran a soft hand over his palm before turning his hand over. "You ready T?" 

Tommy, thinking about Robin's concentrated gaze, thinking about Jonathan's warm smile, thinking about Nancy's flushed cheeks, thinking about Carol's soft hands, thinking about Steve's _everything_, nodded. 

"Yeah, I'm ready." 

...

"I have a question for you Henderson." 

Dustin, who was sitting on Steve's couch, flipping through a- _blegh- _textbook, looked up. "Shoot." 

Steve leaned forward a little. He didn't really know how to ask this without sounding weird or being offensive so he just decided to lean into it because that's what he did best. 

"What's the deal with you and Max?" 

Steve could see the way that Dustin would casually reach for Max's red hair to braid or the way that Max would sometimes steal Dustin's hat and wear it like a snap back. Dustin would always sit beside Max when they played DnD and it'd be close enough that their knees would press together. 

Dustin blinked once before letting out a startled laugh, like he didn't expect that. "Uh, what do you mean?"

"I mean what I mean Dust. What's up with you two?" 

Dustin shook his head once as if he couldn't believe it and then laughed again- this time it was a fuller sound, like he found something that Steve said funny. "Well, you know Lucas right?" 

Steve rolled his eyes but nodded. 

"Well, he's dating Max." Then Dustin paused. "And I'm dating Max. And I'm dating Lucas." 

Oh. That was _it? _

And Steve could see it. How it could work. How it _did _work. 

Lucas and Max would exchange loving looks while Dustin would try to explain his most recent 'curiosity voyage' to them, Max would steal Dustin's hat and Lucas' jacket and rock them like they were hers, Lucas and Dustin would trip over themselves to apologize to Max if they did anything wrong. 

"Oh." But then Steve frowned. "But- _how?" _

Dustin furrowed his brow and looked at Steve like he just walked out of the goddamn circus. 

"What- why are you looking at me like that?" Steve huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "It's a valid question!" 

"Not from someone who's literally _in _a polyamorous relationship!" Dustin exclaimed, throwing up his hands, almost knocking his hat off his head. "Do I have to send you an educational YouTube video about your own relationship Steve?" 

Steve rolled his eyes _again _and groaned. "_No-"_

"Then what are you not getting?" 

"Well-" Steve scrunched up his nose. "What about Max and El?" 

Dustin half shrugged. "They're dating." 

Steve tilted his head. "They're dating too?"

"Yes." 

"Like, _really _dating." 

"Yes." 

"So you're telling me that Max is dating you, Lucas _and _El?"

Dustin nodded, smiling widely. "Yeah! I could've swore you knew this already." 

Steve shook his head. "Uh- no. No, I did _not _know this." 

"Well, you know that Mike and El are dating right?"

"But I thought Will and Mike were-"

"They _are." _Dustin rolled his hand, motioning like he was telling Steve to catch up. 

Steve ran a hand through his hair, slighty baffled at the intermix of relationships within this one friend group. 

"So, just to be sure that I've got this right." Steve said slowly. "Lucas is dating you, and you two are dating Max, who's dating El, who's dating Mike, who's dating Will?" 

Dustin nodded, eyes bright. "Yeah, you got it!" 

"What the hell." Steve chuckled, running a hand down his face. "Only you guys. How do you guys make it work?"

Dustin frowned, expression turning thoughtful. "Well, I guess, our friend group has just been through so much together. Shared trauma and all. We bonded. We trust each other. A shit ton. We were all kinda _there _for each other. The lines get kinda blurred between platonic and romantic and eventually it's like, who needs the lines you know?"

Steve nodded. He did know. Love- well, feelings in general were weird. Life was short. It doesn't always have to be complicated. 

And he could see it. Mike would pull out El _and _Will's chairs when Steve made them dinner and Lucas would absently fix Dustin's collar and Max and El would automatically curl into each other when they stayed for a sleepover.

"Yeah," He nodded again, locking eyes with Dustin, who was watching Steve with a curious look. "love is love." 

"-is love is love." Dustin finished with a silly smile. 

...

At first they steered away from being close. Nancy, Jonathan and Steve would spend lunch in the yearbook room, Billy and Steve would only interact in the gym, Carol and Robin wouldn't walk to their art class together. 

Nancy could tell that Steve hated it and honestly, she kind of hated it too. 

She loved Robin, had gotten used to Carol's easy affection and had grown to like hearing Steve and Tommy banter back and forth like kids. 

Billy was- well, she hadn't gotten used to him yet. 

She couldn't really see it before but ever since Steve told them that he and Billy were friends, she's been looking closely at him. He's been keeping his distance, but Nancy could see that he had stopped antagonizing Steve and Tommy and started talking to them like humans. 

Nancy couldn't help the flash of internal protection she felt whenever Steve would talk to Billy- she couldn't get the image of his black-and-blue face out of her head- but Steve seemed weirdly relaxed whenever Billy was around. 

It helped that Mike had begrudgingly told her that Billy had scared off their bully and was being nice to them but Nancy still wasn't used to Billy yet. 

But one day, because Nancy was tired of Steve sending sad puppy dog eyes to Tommy from across the lunch room, she grabbed his and Jonathan's hands and pulled them to the table. Tina and Nicole's eyes widened but Nancy paid them no mind; she focused on the way that Tommy beamed and Carol immediately moved to make space for all three of them. 

Steve seemed to flounder for a moment, reminding Nancy that times have changed but he eventually found his footing and slid into the seat next to Tommy. Robin, who was sitting with some of her band friends at another table, caught Nancy's eye and smiled. 

It seemed like that simple action had kickstarter something because soon, they were sitting with Tommy and Carol everyday at lunch, Jonathan and Robin would walk to seminar together, Nancy would catch Tommy and Steve smoking together in between periods. 

The school seemed to take it in stride. Maybe they figured it was about time that Tommy, Carol and Steve became friends again. Interestingly enough, they didn't even blink at Steve and Jonathan being friends, nor at Nancy and Steve still being friends. 

Of course they didn't know that Steve, Nancy and Jonathan were all dating. 

At least, that's what she assumed. 

But on thursday, Steve wasn't waiting by his locker to greet her for lunch. And Nancy instantly saw why. Spray painted on his locker, in bright red, was the word 'Faggot'. She inhaled shakily and turned and sprinted down the hallway. 

Freshman and sophomores had to move quick to get out of her way so they wouldn't get run over because Nancy wasn't going to stop to dodge them. 

Jonathan and Robin were at his locker- which was completely clear of any paint- laughing about something when she ran up. 

"Jonathan! Robin! Do you know where Steve is?" She panted. 

Jonathan's eyes widened and Robin blinked and Nancy couldn't blame them- she probably looked crazy. She definitely _felt _crazy. But then Jonathan moved towards her and placed two strong hands on her shoulders and Robin reached out to curl a hand around her wrist. 

"What do you mean 'know where Steve is'?" Robin asked, her voice pitching upwards and Nancy cursed. She forgot. How could she forget? 

It was the same way that Nancy could hear Mike up at one in the morning, using the walkie talkie to talk to Will and El with a shaky voice, or the way that Jonathan would sometimes fix Will's jacket collar even though there was nothing wrong, or how Nancy would sometimes reach for Barb's hand to run her fingers over the redhead's soft knuckles. 

Just a small reminder; a tiny _you're still here_. 

But for Robin and Steve, who were _drugged _and _tortured (_which, no matter how much Steve downplayed it, Nancy refused to address it as anything other than that) with only each other to lean on, it was heightened. 

They were constantly leaning on each other, holding hands or brushing their arms together. It was absently too, like they didn't even notice they were doing it. It used to bother Nancy, used to burn her up inside because, as Steve had told her- _Nance, you've got a jealous streak that runs red hot. We're aren't going anywhere, we're crazy over you- _but that was before she realized that Robin had her eyes set on someone else and that Steve, as amazing as he was, wasn't her type. 

As proven by the fact that Robin was set to go on her third date with Katie Moon tomorrow night. 

But still. 

They watched each other's backs like they _had _too. Like it was only them; like it would only ever _be _them. 

So Nancy cursed herself for leading with the fact that she didn't know where Steve was. 

"No! I mean, I was waiting for him by his locker and he wasn't there." Nancy rushed out in one breath, feeling more frazzled than she's ever been. "He just- he's always waiting there. We have history." She added even though she knew that Jonathan knew. 

Jonathan just nodded, like Nancy wasn't sort of going crazy in front of him and Robin let go of Nancy's wrist to tug on a dangling earring. 

Steve was always telling her to stop doing that; it was a bad habit but Robin only did it when she was nervous. Which, according to her was hardly ever but Nancy knew well enough to know that- just like Steve- it was more often than she liked to admit. 

"Maybe he's running late? I know he picked up Dustin and Lucas this morning?" 

And yeah, sure, Nancy knew that too, just the same way she knew he left his house almost a whole half a hour early so he could stop at McDonald's to get the kids something for breakfast. 

"I don't know." She hummed nervously, biting at her lip. "Did you see his locker?" 

Jonathan's eyes narrowed. "His locker?" 

Tommy and Carol ran up, cutting Nancy off before she could explain. 

"Where's Stevie?" She snapped but Tommy, seeing that Steve wasn't by Nancy's side, immediately took off down the hallway. 

"What the hell is going on?" Robin snapped. 

Carol turned hurt and frantic and worried eyes onto Robin. "Someone spray painted faggot onto Steve's locker." 

Robin inhaled sharply and took a stuttering step back. "Holy _shit_." 

"I'll check the track." Jonathan said before running off. 

"Come on Robby," Carol said, lacing their fingers together, "We can check the band room and the auditorium." 

Nancy nodded. "I'll check the gym." 

...

Billy watched as Steve pounded the ball like he was trying to give the floor a redesign. His shoulders were tense, his brow furrowed and his hands had ghosts of red paint on them- like he'd tried to smear away a picture. 

Or a word. 

It wasn't hard to put together the pieces.

"Harrington." Billy called, startling him slightly. "Tryouts aren't till next season."

Steve relaxed when he saw that it was just Billy and spun the ball in his hands, trying for nonchalance. "Mhm. I gotta get ahead, I heard there were some talented freshman coming up." 

"Right." Billy stepped closer and pulled the ball from his hands. "Freshman more talented than you?" 

Steve shrugged, training his gaze to the wooden floor. "You never know. Could be." 

"Right." Billy repeated. He wondered how long Harrington could and would keep up this charade. Probably forever. He knew, Billy knew and Billy was sure that he knew that Billy knew- but still, here he was. Pretending like it didn't happen. 

Billy had a sick fascination with it; he wanted to see how well Steve could dance around it. He wanted to ask about the red paint; he wondered what lie Steve would come up with. But he also wanted Steve to talk about, to rant about it, to break down about it because then Billy could _help_ him. 

Billy wondered if this was how Steve felt when he'd refuse to go to the police; frustrated and helpless but understanding.

So, Billy went, "You wanna talk about it?" He nodded to Steve's hands. 

Steve's eyes widened and he floundered before finding his footing and Billy had to admit, he was good at finding his footing quick. "Do _you _want to talk about it?" 

That was fair. 

"Naw." Billy passed the ball back and watched Steve shoot. "You skipping first?"

"I don't know. Probably not. Nancy'll kill me." 

"You're right about that." Billy turned to see Nancy Wheeler standing there, her arms tight across her chest. Her words were scolding but her tone was light, nervous- she must have worked herself up into a goddamn tizzy. 

Steve obviously noticing all this and then more, immediately took three long strides up to her, his face apologetic. "Nance-" 

She cut him off and took his hands. "Are you alright?" 

He nodded, head bowing down closer to her, his brown hair flopping down to cover his eyes. " 'M okay." 

Nancy tilted her head, obviously noting what Billy could see: he wasn't. Not re_ally. _

"Yeah." She peeked around Steve and caught Billy's gaze. And usually when she looked at him, it was a hard gaze, cold and unforgiving. Billy couldn't blame her, not really. But this time she looked grateful. 

_thank you, _she mouthed. 

Billy had no fucking clue what he did but he nodded anyway. 

They turned to walk away and Billy would've watched them go but he still had that frustrated-helpless feeling crowding his gut. 

"Hey princess!" Nancy turned, looking outraged but Steve tilted his head. 

"Yeah?" He answered and Billy wanted to frame Nancy's confused face and put it on his wall. 

"I got you covered alright? Don't worry about this." 

Steve looked hesitant but he nodded and Nancy tugged them away and out of the gym. And well, if Billy sent two juniors with matching black eyes to Steve's lunch table to apologize in front of him and all his friends, then that was Billy's business. 

...

His phone was ringing. 

Any other day he would've ignored it, but it wasn't his cellphone this time. It was the home phone. 

The only people who would be calling his home phone was Billy, because Steve gave him his house number just in case or it was his _parents. _

Which, Steve had _no _idea how to feel about. 

But he got up out of his bed at two in the morning to answer his ringing home phone. 

"Hello?" He yawned, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. 

It was quiet on the other end for a moment before-

"Steve." 

Steve immediately stiffened, now completely awake. 

"Max? What's wrong? Do you need help? What's happening?" 

"I- I called Hopper." She whispered and then there were some shuffling sounds. There was a crash, like some dishes were breaking and Max whimpered slightly. "Bi-Billy told me to call you." 

Steve inhaled. His heart felt like it was dancing a fucking Congo in his chest. "Alright Max." He fought to keep his voice calm. "Alright. I'm here. Let me know what's happening. Let me know. Why did he want you to call me?" 

"Steve, he's hurting him." She cried. "He's _hurting _him. He already hurt mom- he's not gonna-" 

"Okay, okay. I got you. Are you hiding? Tell me where you're hiding." 

"I'm in the closet in Billy's room. I just- please Steve. You- you said to call if we needed help." 

"Y-yeah," Steve's breath stuttered. "Just stay hidden, I'm coming. I'm coming to get you." 

...

The bat was in the seat next to him. It was the only thing dared to stop to grab. It was raining and it was windy but Steve could hardly feel it as he reached for the bat and jumped out the car. 

He didn't waste anytime and ran up to the front door; it was open, which Steve couldn't decide whether it was a good or bad thing. 

The house was dark and he knew where Billy and his dad were immediately. There was a crash in the kitchen and every cell in Steve's body was telling him _go go, swing swing, _but-

Billy told Max to call him because he would keep Max safe. Billy _trusted _Steve to keep Max safe. So he would. 

The first bedroom he saw was covered in cut outs from car magazines so he assumed that he had the right room. He hurried in and quietly shut the door. 

There was a stifled sob from the closet that made Steve's hands clench around his bat. 

"Max?" He called softly, gently knocking against the closet door. "Hey, it's just me." 

There was a small pause before the door opened and Max perked out. Her eyes widened, she threw open the door and she barrelled right into Steve. He caught her with a small grunt and closed his arms around her. 

"It's gonna be okay. I've got you." Steve whispered. "Come on, are you hurt?" 

She shook her head, keeping her face buried into Steve's chest. 

"Alright, that's good, that's-" 

There was another crash and a muffled shout of pain and Max and Steve both flinched. She curled her fingers tighter into Steve's hoodie. 

"Hey, it's going to be okay. I'm gonna get you _and _Billy out of here." 

She sniffled but nodded and pulled back. She rubbed her eyes and took a steadying breath. 

"O-okay, let's go." 

Sneaking back out should've been a million times harder than sneaking in but Steve's had a shit ton of practice. Although it was in _his _house which was bigger and had less creaking floors, Max's house only had one floor, so sneaking out of the window was a breeze. 

She looked back up at him, a worried look on her face. "Steve, are you coming?" 

"I will, I will. I just-" He looked back towards Billy's door. "I have to help him." 

Max's eyes widened and she swiped for Steve's hand. "Take me with you!" She hissed, and the determination that Steve had been missing finally lit up her eyes. "I- I want to help too." 

Steve shook his head once because he could _hear _the waver in her voice despite how hard she tried to hide it. "I'll be quick Max. I'm going to get you back to Lucas, Dustin and El and I'm going to get Billy back to you, alright?" 

Max bit her lip but reluctantly nodded. "If you get hurt, I'm gonna kill you Harrington." 

Steve smirked and hoped that he looked more courageous than he felt. "I don't doubt it red."

...

His hands were sweating so badly that Steve was sure once he'd try to swing the bat, it'd fly from his hands.

Steve could probably think of a million other things that was wrong with him that could make him slow or make him make a mistake but he pushed it away. 

His _best friend _was in danger. 

He got to the kitchen and the sight of Billy on the tile floor, blood running down his face from his nose, looking up at a huge hulking figure with fear and a sort of learned helplessness in his eyes made Steve's blood boil. 

"Hey!" He barked, every muscle in his body tense and ready, ready, ready. 

The man turned and Billy looked over, looking absolutely _terrified. _

"Steve! No-" 

Neil took a menacing step forward towards him and for a second, Steve didn't see the Hargrove's kitchen. He saw his living room, a broken vase, his father stepping towards him with a face twisted in anger. He saw his mother in the corner of his eye, rolling her eyes and already turning away. 

He felt like he was thirteen again; just as helpless as he's always been. 

The bat slipped from his hands and Neil must've seen the hesitation in his eyes because his lips twisted and reached for Steve's throat. 

There's a moment, in which you're so scared that for a second, you aren't scared anymore. In which, you, for a second, think. Steve, for that one second, decided to think about his family. Nancy, Jonathan, Robin, Tommy, Carol, El, Dustin, Lucas, Max, Mike, Will, Joyce, Hopper and- 

Just as Steve's vision was going dark around the edges, there was a shattering sound. Suddenly, the hands that had been gradually tightening around his throat went slack and Steve fell back, gasping for breath. 

Large hands caught him before he hit the ground and the last thing he heard before he blacked out was a choked up-

"Harrington, you dumbass." 

And Billy. Billy was family too. 

...

...

...

Someone was burrowing into his side. 

Actually, someone was burrowing into both sides, leaving him sandwiched in between two warm bodies. Which, after the cold breeze and rain from the outside of the Hargrove's, felt like a blessing. 

He peeled an eye open and Steve instantly knew he was in a hospital. The white ceiling, the vaguely uncomfortable bed sheets; he sighed, then winced because his throat felt like it had been pushed through a meat grinder. 

"Steve!" 

A blur of red entered his vision and suddenly he saw Max's face, quickly followed by El's. He smiled becauseMax looked unharmed and despite the upset look on her face, she seemed to be okay. 

"Max." He sighed in relief, ignoring his sore throat. "You're okay." 

"You dumbass." She sniffled. "You told me you weren't going to get hurt." 

"I-" 

Steve was cut off by Hopper, who Steve hardly noticed was sitting in the armchair by the door. 

"He just couldn't help himself." His tone was admonishing but his eyes her soft, almost proud. "Could ya' kid?" 

Steve smiled and shrugged, gently patting Max's tense shoulder. "Yeah red, you know me. I can't help myself." 

El sniffled loudly and grabbed Steve's other hand. "Tell me next time." She squeezed it tight. "I can _help_." 

Steve's throat clogged with fear at the thought of El facing down Neil Hargrove. He's seen her flip cars and send monsters back into the dimensions they came from, but this? This was somehow _worse. _

Steve shook his head frantically, unable to voice how completely _terrified _that idea made him. 

"He's right El." Hopper cut in. El turned to frown at him, a betrayed look on her face. Steve blinked at him gratefully. "You can't just go around dealing with people like that. Even if they're monsters in they're own right, they're human beings and that has to be taken into consideration." 

El sighed, drooping slightly, but she nodded and folded herself back into Steve's side. 

"Hey, kid." Hopper said, catching Steve's attention. "You've gotta stay here for twenty-four hours at the very least while they make sure there wasn't any serious damage done to your throat. I already told Joyce and she, Jonathan, Nancy and Will are at your house grabbing you some clothes for when you can come home alright?" 

Steve nodded and opened his mouth to ask a question but Max stopped him. 

"You shouldn't be talking too much." She advised and out of the corner of Steve's eye, he could see El nodding along seriously. 

"I'll be fine red." He rasped. "I swear I've sounded worse." 

Max grimaced, shooting him a look like- _are you sure- _and even El looked like she might say something to refute his claim when a shout came from outside the door. 

"Mr. _Hargrove, please-" _

"Get out of my way!" 

Hopper startled and moved towards the door, as if to block it, but at the last second decided against it. Just as soon as Hopper stepped away, Billy came barreling into the room, his face red, his mouth all twisted, his hands balled up into fists. 

He looked alright, except for the bruise blooming on his cheek and his red-rimmed eyes. 

"Billy." Steve croaked and Billy seemed to flinch at the sound of his voice. He faltered for just a second before his face steeled. 

"Steve," he took two stepped forward and yanked Steve up into a tight hug. "You fucking _idiot_." 

Steve immediately wrapped his arms around Billy, but gently, unsure of any other lingering injuries or bruises. Billy buried his face into Steve's shoulder, shaking slightly. 

"You almost got yourself _killed." _Billy whispered harshly, his voice only a little muffled by Steve's shirt. 

Steve squeezed him tighter. "I didn't-" 

Billy pulled away, glaring at him with wet, angry eyes. "Shut _up. _You sound like shit." Then he immediately went back to squeezing the life out of Steve. 

Steve sighed and met Hopper's eyes, who shrugged like- _what did you expect? _

He tucked his face into the side of Billy's neck. "I'm sorry." He whispered softly, not even caring when it came out all scratchy. "I just- I had to help you. You're- you're family." 

Billy's arms tightened around him and Steve could hear him take a sharp breath. "Yeah well, you're family too. So don't do anymore stupid shit." 

...

Steve's parents were still gone. 

He could call them, he could worry about it, he could let that bitter sour feeling curl in his chest and sit there, but, he was under strict instruction to not 'do anymore stupid shit.' 

So he lounged on the Byers' couch, listened to Billy and Robin compete at a racing game, listened as the kids cheered them on, listened as Jonathan and Carol tried to convince Joyce and Hopper that- _no, it's alright, we can cook dinner, just go relax. _Nancy leaned her head against his shoulder and Steve immediately pressed a kiss to her forehead. 

"You know, I'm glad we accepted their apology."

Steve followed Nancy's gaze to where Tommy was playfully covering Billy's eyes so Robin could get ahead. "Yeah?" 

She smiled. "Yeah. They're great. Also, I can't wait until Barb comes back from New York to find out that I'm friends with _Billy Hargrove._" 

Steve laughed so hard he snorted and Mike turned to him to tease him while Robin cheered at her win and the smell of well-cooked chicken reached his nose and Nancy and Tommy watched him with matching adoring looks and Steve realized he was happy. 

Screw his parents, he wasn't letting this go for _anything. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this fic took a LOT out of me but I love it so fucking much man. I have a LOT of ideas for this series and I'm so excited
> 
> things to come:
> 
> 1\. robin and katie Moon's dates?
> 
> 2\. the deal with Barb 😶
> 
> 3\. how robin and Steve became friends
> 
> 4\. the kiddos!!

**Author's Note:**

> this fic is 100% self indulgent but I figured there might be some people who'd like it too


End file.
